Three Girls and a Bunch of Jedi on Really Import..
by Maria Keeth
Summary: mutilple crossover, lots in it. jedi come to earth and recruit three girls for a mission. end up going all over the place and doing stuff. kind of a high school story. written for fun and laughs. another story has been written and is much more mature. wa


THREE GIRLS AND A BUNCH OF JEDI ON REALLY IMPOTANT MISSIONS  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I am making absolutely no money off this. It was just a little thing to do in my time off (and it took a lot of my time off). All things in here belong to their respective owners; I didn't make them up myself, I more like the term 'borrowed'. There's a lot of borrowed stuff in here and I'll try to name them all, but please don't sue me if I forget anything that anyone thinks I missed  
  
Charlie's Angels- guy isn't Charlie, he's Eric instead  
  
Star Wars- well duh, the Jedi  
  
The Mummy-Rick and all those funky mummies  
  
Speed- Jack (I don't think there's anything else from that)  
  
Harry Potter- Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Malfoy, and Hogwarts (I would love to go there!)  
  
Lord of the Rings- Middle-Earth and all those other characters that belong there (that movie rocks!)  
  
Lady Marmalade-Moulin Rouge (we go girls! That movie's cool too, we'll try to sit through it without laughing sometime)  
  
The Sword of Truth series- Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd. Even though they're not in it for very much (one of my favorite fantasy series)  
  
Lethal Weapon- Martin Riggs (I think it would be cool to have a friend like that)  
  
True Lies- big buff Harry Tasker (not in it much, but I'm trying to cover myself on all sides here)  
  
Die Hard- John McClane (like above)  
  
Crime Scene Investigation- Gil Grissom (from one of the best TV shows on today)  
  
Tomb Raider- Lara Croft. Mostly based on her character from the movie, I haven't played any of the games and read lots of fanfiction about her (I think she's a good role model-go girl!)  
  
Black Hawk Down- Todd Blackburn (what can I say? It has pretty boy in it!)  
  
Blade- Blade, kicking evil's butt!  
  
Indiana Jones- like those movies too  
  
Pretty Fly/ Original Prankster- from the Offspring  
  
'A Mile in Their Shoes' by Cassia- bit with conversation of Obi-Wan in a dress (that is one of the best fanfictions I ever read and it is one of my all time favorites).  
  
'Zoom Raider' by MikeRiegel- bit with the ball room dancing on Obi-Wan. Good fanfic too. Loved it.  
  
A great big huge thank you goes to Eileen my editor, thank you so much for helping me (especially with those horrid kissing scenes) I don't know what I would have done without you and your creativity. Thank you to my friends ( C and S, we've been through stuff together and we still kick butt! We triumph over evil and all those who serve it! (Does that make sense??)  
  
I wasn't able to have all my characters speak and act etc. I'm sorry if you think I did anyone any injustice. I apologize profusely, I certainly would have loved to give everyone a big part, but sadly I was running out of time. The way the story is now, it took like 8-10 months (terrible thing called school) to do and I had people breathing down my neck to finish this (not to mention being threatened with a baseball bat when I told them that I deleted the whole thing and was starting over again). I know there is other stuff I could have added and I know there is stuff that could have been done better, but I don't have forever to fiddle with this thing. I must move on, maybe another story or something. I don't know, I'm proud of what I did and the effort I put into it. It took a long time, but hey I'm done! I crossed the finish line! Yeah for me!  
  
On with the story!(  
  
  
  
Three girls stood at their lockers getting ready to leave for the weekend. The surrounding hall and those beyond were filled with the sounds of laughter, chatting and the slamming of lockers.  
  
The blonde girl sighed. "You know it's really hard to believe there's only a couple of days left and then finals and finally the end of high school."  
  
A tall brunette slammed her locker and started putting textbooks in her bag. "Please don't tell me you're going to miss all that school work." She asked incredulously. "Troi, every single day you groaned about not wanting to go to school and you couldn't wait for all the 'torture' as you called it, to end."  
  
Troi sighed again. "I know. But think about it. We're going to have to have some responsibility after leaving."  
  
Everyone else who had heard the conversation would have thought it funny to hear someone who didn't want to leave high school and finally be free. However the statement that was just spoken was indeed ironic for the three girls. They've had responsibilities since they were ten years old and had been training for those responsibilities for even longer than that.  
  
The trio was a specialized team that was involved in dangerous missions, virtually impossible missions. A mysterious man who had never revealed himself to them and had only given his name 'Eric' sponsored them. But from what the girls lived in and the journeys they took, it could be implied with almost full certainty, he was a millionaire. With lots of money to spend and the girls were never left wanting anything.  
  
Although with the resource of renewable money and power, the girls where not snotty or power hungry. They only bought what they thought they needed to with the exception of a few splurges at the mall. But that only happened about twice a year. All took great joy or pride in what they were taught to do and were in fact very good at it. Only being caught by their 'enemies' a couple of times and ending up in the hospital a relatively small amount, considering what they did and how they did it.  
  
They lived in a mansion, each girl having their own 'wing', filled with what they considered to be mandatory to continue to be good at their job. It included gyms, fully equipped garages (one for each) and swimming pools. They also had obstacle courses and shooting ranges outside to refine their already incredible skills.  
  
The shorter brunette snorted. "Man that responsibility. Bad responsibility!"  
  
The girls giggled. Shutting her own locker the smaller brunette declared, "Well, I'm ready to go home and relax, this week has been brutal. And next week's going to be even worse with finals."  
  
"C'mon Dawn, relax. We've studied for finals and we know a lot of it. We should do fine."  
  
Troi shut her locker to and stuffed some books into her bag. "Let's go home and party!"  
  
"Troi you always want to party."  
  
"So? What's wrong with that? I just meant celebrating that school is almost over, that's all. Maybe we can do a little sleepover or something and you could do your little dancing singing thing Sitya." Troi did a little twirl as they stepped away from their lockers and started heading towards the car.  
  
"Yeah, I guess we could do that." Sitya grinned. "We haven't done that for a long time."  
  
Dawn decided to ask a question. "Maybe you could do a little dance thing at grad."  
  
Sitya looked shocked. "No way would I do that! And I'm not going to grad."  
  
Dawn shook her head. "Yes you are," she stated.  
  
Outside was just as noisy as the inside. The parking lot was full of screaming teenagers preparing for the weekend. They made their way to Dawn's yellow bug and started putting their backpacks into the trunk.  
  
Troi was about to climb into the passengers' side when someone shouted her name. She turned around and saw it was the geeky guy from her Social class. "What do you want Kirk?"  
  
He reached her, breathless and asked. "I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere tonight."  
  
Troi could feel her two friends behind her trying to suppress a laugh. 'Why on earth would he think I wanted to go somewhere with him?' "I'm sorry Kirk. But I'm going to be at home with my friends. We've already planned a sleepover."  
  
The boy looked crestfallen and nodded. "Alright. Maybe some other time?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
He turned and left. Troi turned to see her friends smiling. "Oh shut up!" she hissed. She opened the car door and climbed in. The others followed suit.  
  
Dawn started the engine and started backing out of their stall. "You know Troi, you really shouldn't lead Kirk on like that."  
  
"Like what?!"  
  
Sitya put in from the back. "Yeah, you should tell him what you really think of him. Instead of playing around with him."  
  
"I haven't done any of that! And I have told him what I think of him. Well just that I don't want to go out with him. He's such a freak!"  
  
"Maybe he just needs a good kick in the shin." Sitya suggested.  
  
Troi shook her head. "No Sitya, that's something you would do. I only do that to guys I've gone out with.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean. I don't always resort to violence!"  
  
Dawn laughed. "They important thing is you think that."  
  
  
  
In Dawn's part of the mansion the girls were gathered in the very open and big living room. What was once a carefully arranged room had turned into a mess. The furniture was pushed to the side and pillows were flung everywhere and blankets where spread out on the floor. Bowls filled with junk food where spaced out on the floor and tables, all within easy reach of one sitting on the floor.  
  
Dawn sighed and laid back on her makeshift bed in the living room. All the girls were gathered in the living room and in their pajamas of shorts and a T-shirt, looking for something to do. Sitya and Troi were on the far side of the room arguing over what movie they would be watching. Dawn sighed again; the way this was going it was going to take all night for a decision to be made. Dawn stood up and walked over to where the two were arguing. "Why don't we do that little dance thing now. You two are getting nowhere the way you're going."  
  
Troi backed up from Sitya and nodded. "Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Venting session time." She joked. "I wanna go first."  
  
"Alright, I'll go next."  
  
Sitya sighed. "Well then I guess I'll go last."  
  
Each went their separate ways to gather supplies for the improv performance. Pans would be used for drums, brooms for guitars and maybe a spoon for a microphone. Everything being assembled in a corner of the room, Troi started her song 'Original Prankster'. Bass pounded out of the sound system and Troi went full out singing along with it. Sitya played the pans and Dawn the broom, all having fun and laughing when it was over.  
  
"I think we would be great singing live." Dawn giggled.  
  
Sitya laughed too. "It would be even better if we made and sang our own songs."  
  
Dawn jumped up and raced over to the CD player. She popped in her song 'Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)'. This time Sitya played the broom and Troi the pans. The girls had just as much fun the second time as they did the first and again ended up laughing.  
  
"Alright, alright my turn!" Sitya moved over to put her CD and was about to select her song when a noise could be heard heading their way.  
  
"What is that?!" Troi shrieked.  
  
"I don't know. But it sounds like its coming from the back." Dawn had to raise her voice above the ever-increasing noise.  
  
All three girls headed out toward the back and their jaws dropped when they saw what it was.  
  
"Is that a spaceship?" Troi questioned.  
  
"Looks like it." Dawn said.  
  
They watched as the circular flat disk hovered above their Japanese and Roman garden, wobbling in the air.  
  
"It looks like they're having pBoblems." Sitya pointed out.  
  
"Who cares! We get to meet aliens!" Troi exclaimed.  
  
"Not if they die before setting down." Sitya answered back.  
  
Troi nodded and stepped out towards the approaching ship. Sitya and Dawn gave a cry of surprise and tried to pull her back. They gave each other an exasperated look, that was one of the pBoblems with Troi, she always went to help people and never thought of what might happen to her.  
  
Sitya and Dawn raced out to grab Troi. "Are you nuts, they might be having real pBoblems and not be able to land properly!" Sitya shouted over the roaring noise.  
  
Troi nodded, seeing the logic in it and stepped back to what they considered to be a safe distance.  
  
Every other person on the planet may have been fainting or grabbing guns to shoot at the flying object, but the girls were far to familiar with the strange and unknown. Encountering these sorts of situations before, but by no means a real space ship or aliens.  
  
They watched the ship place down and then slowly started walking towards what they thought was the door of the thing. The object let out a loud groan and a thick column of smoke escaped from the side of it. The girls took a step back not knowing if what safe to or if those inside would be friendly. After a few moments nothing happened, except for the smoke rising up in the air. Then there was a lowering of the door, but it stopped. They could make out noises coming from inside the thing and then saw what looked to be human hands pushing at the door.  
  
Troi stepped forward again and walked towards it. Sitya and Dawn felt obligated to go as well.  
  
"Are you alright in there?" Troi called.  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes. 'What made her think those inside would understand English?'  
  
She was floored when someone answered back. "Yes."  
  
More shoving on the part of those inside continued and more talking. A strong baritone voice asked them a question, "Could you by any chance see if there is something jammed in the launch doors' hydraulics."  
  
"Alright." The girls walked around the base of the door, looking for something that they thought wasn't supposed to be there. After a short time Dawn thought she saw something and pulled at it. The long pipe came out easily and then she said, "Try it now."  
  
The girls moved out from under the ramp and stood waiting for their 'visitors' to show themselves. Inside they heard some grunting and the ramp slowly lowered and then came down suddenly. The girls jumped back out of the way and were missed by the falling ramp. But something flew out of the entryway and landed on top of Sitya.  
  
'What the heck was that!' she opened her eyes and saw a young man above her, or on top of her, whichever way you looked at it. She heard laughing from somewhere.  
  
"Obi-Wan I told you not to push so hard when the ramp started to move."  
  
'Who the hell is Obi-Wan?' she found that she was having trouble breathing. 'Man is he heavy!' she thought.  
  
"Are you alright?" a concerned voice asked. It came from the man on top of her.  
  
"Can't… breathe." Sitya sucked in more oxygen and bit out. "Are you getting comfortable or are you going to get off!"  
  
The man took the hint and blushing scrambled off her. Sitya to got to her feet and looked at the new arrivals. There were four, one older one and the rest younger looking and they all wore strange Bobes of some sort. At least they look friendly. She looked over at her friends making sure they were safe and saw them hiding a smirk. 'Jerks' she thought playfully.  
  
Troi then turned her attention to the new people. "Are you sure you're alright."  
  
The older man answered, his was the baritone voice they had heard before. "Yes we are. But could you tell us where we are?"  
  
Dawn couldn't resist. "Earth. Welcome."  
  
The man and his companions seemed to relax at this statement. The man asked a question again, "Would you be able to help us locate some people? We think we are in the right area before we landed."  
  
"Depends. Who are you looking for?" Dawn questioned.  
  
He rattled off three names off his head and the girls looked at each other.  
  
Troi cleared her throat. "That would be us."  
  
The man allowed himself a grin, "Excellent. We landed closer than we thought."  
  
"Closer?" Sitya asked. "I'd say you landed right on target. Welcome to our back yard."  
  
The man and the rest of the visitors looked around. One who had not said anything before now, one with a mop full of sandy blonde hair stated. "And a fine looking one it is."  
  
  
  
Troi had thought it would be all right if the visitors were to come inside. Sitya and Dawn did not like the idea at all, but it was too late. Troi was already leading them through the patio door and then into the living room, which was still a mess.  
  
Troi cleared off some chairs and couches to make room for the visitors to sit. When they did the older man introduced himself. "My name is Qui-Gon Jinn and this is Obi-Wan Kenobi, my apprentice." That was the one who had fallen on Sitya. He turned to the other two people. "That is Rick O'Connell," that one the one who had said the thing about the backyard. "And that is Jack Traven." The one who hadn't said anything yet.  
  
Troi smiled politely, "What can we do for you, Mr. Jinn?"  
  
"We are here as messengers of the Jedi Council and we are here to make contact with you. We are here to ask for your help." He paused, looking at the doubtful looks of the girls. He decided to add. "Your employer, Eric, said you would be willing to cooperate."  
  
That got the girls attention, no one else knew about Eric and the girls never talked about him outside of the household.  
  
"What would you have us do?" Dawn asked.  
  
The man sat back in his chair and said. "This may be a long story and please leave any questions until the end." He paused and gathered his thoughts. "The Jedi are those in our galaxy who are able to use the Force, an essence that surrounds us and allows the Jedi to do remarkable things, moving objects or 'talk' to each other through the mind. The Jedi Council is the governing body of the Jedi and have asked us to see you and set up a sort of exchange program. The Council and your employer have had talks and both are interested in you joining this sort of alliance. It's basically a help program, we help you and you help us. Please take time to think about this."  
  
The girls looked at each other. That was out of the blue.  
  
"What sort of help would you want and why us?" Dawn asked  
  
"The Council has seen the records, which your employer has sent and they believe that you three would be most valuable. You have such incredible skills in a wide variety of things."  
  
Sitya stiffened. She didn't like the idea of someone reading a file about her and deciding if she did or did not know how to do her job. By the looks of it the other two did not like it either.  
  
Qui-Gon continued. "Eric has already volunteered you for a 'test' trial. However it is unknown when it will actually take place."  
  
Sitya had almost had enough, "Why hasn't Eric said anything to us?"  
  
"He said he would be contacting you at 9:00 p.m."  
  
They looked at the clock and saw it was 30 seconds to nine and after those seconds went by their telephone rang. Talk about timing.  
  
Dawn reached over and pressed the conference button. "Good evening, girls!" Eric's familiar and cheerful voice rang out. "I hope that your guests have arrived."  
  
The girls looked at each other and Troi answered, "Yes Eric, they have."  
  
"Splendid! I would like you to seriously consider the proposition, which Master Qui-Gon has placed before you. It would be a marvelous opportunity to learn more, new things and travel to different places." He laughed. "Think girls! Going to another galaxy altogether! I do wish that you would accept, at least jointly do one mission together and see what it is like. I have to go now girls, talk to you later."  
  
"Bye Eric." They all had thoughts that their boss had gone nuts, but he had never done anything to them that would hurt them. He only sent them missions, which he thought they could handle (which were a lot).  
  
Everyone sat in silence for awhile and then Troi asked, "What exactly is it that we have to do?"  
  
Qui-Gon sighed, "The Council has not yet told me so I can not rely that information back to you. However they did say to expect it within the week."  
  
"So what exactly are we supposed to do 'til then?" Sitya questioned.  
  
"I was hoping you would show some of the places here on Earth. This is an exchange for us as well and we would like to learn about your culture. As you would have the same opportunity with our galaxy as well."  
  
Sitya looked at him again, "You mean there's a lot of habitual planets in your galaxy and you can travel to them?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"That is so wicked! But I think it would be better if we didn't broadcast your arrival here. People would ask questions and such, first do you think anyone saw you land that thing?"  
  
The one with that hadn't said anything so far spoke up. "I don't think so, but there is no certainty. Master Qui-Gon, I think it would be best if we moved the Hark into the woods."  
  
Dawn cleared her throat. "How are you going to do that? I mean isn't it broken?"  
  
Qui-Gon nodded, "Indeed it is and will never fly again without a large amount of replacement parts, no of which we have. We will move it now."  
  
The four Jedi got up and started to head out in the direction of the 'parked' ship. Troi offered to be of service elsewhere. "I'll go order pizza, so you can eat."  
  
Qui-Gon turned to her and smiled, "That would be greatly appreciated. Thank you."  
  
The one called Jack muttered to Rick, "Finally real food."  
  
"You don't even know what pizza is."  
  
"Anything has got to be better than rations."  
  
  
  
The four Jedi stood looking at the ship. It was indeed a mess, and would never fly again without serious repairs.  
  
"Master Qui-Gon, how are we going to move it, I mean it's far larger than anything I've ever tried before."  
  
Qui-Gon looked down at his apprentice. "Size matters not Obi-Wan, I thought Master Yoda would have taught you that."  
  
Obi-Wan looked down. "Yes he has, but still, it is awfully big."  
  
"Working together it should not be a pBoblem." He surveyed the area again. He turned to the younger Jedi. "Let's all spread out one to each corner of the ship. We will move it to those trees over there, to the north and then cover it with some sort of forest debris, to hide it better." The other Jedi nodded understanding and went to do what the Master had instructed them.  
  
Dawn and Sitya stood on the outskirts of the activity watching, Troi joined them shortly having a troubled look on her face.  
  
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Kirk answered the phone at Pizza Hut. He said he would deliver the pizzas personally." She turned to Sitya. "Do you think you could get the pizzas? Use your violence to scare him off?"  
  
"I seem to recall you guys making fun of me and my violence. Why should I?"  
  
"Pleaseeee, he's freaky and won't leave me alone."  
  
Sitya sighed, "All right. But this is the absolute last time. From now on you're on your own."  
  
They turned their attention back to the Jedi and were amazed. The ship was already up and moving towards the surrounding forest in the back. It didn't take very long for the Jedi to move the ship and then go out back to where they had put it and cover it with more forest debris. When they were satisfied that it was the best they could do and that it was very unlikely that some one would find the ship they headed back to the mansion.  
  
Obi-Wan seemed slightly miffed "Why didn't the three girls come and help?"  
  
Rick laughed. "I don't think their attire is meant for the outdoors."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I think the word you should be looking for is sleeping apparel."  
  
"Oh." Obi-Wan then became horrified; he'd fallen on a girl who was dressed in her pajamas. He groaned, those at the Jedi Temple were going to have a field day when they found out about that.  
  
The Jedi walked back up to the house and through the doors, which they had come in and out before.  
  
The one named Troi greeted them. "Pizza has just got here. Sitya has gone to get it so you can eat." She led them through the mansion and through rooms and hallways. The Jedi were awed by the seer size of the place. It was huge and soon, the younger Jedi were lost and confused with the turns. Finally, in what they thought was the center wing of the house they stopped their journey and walked into what looked to be an eating area. It didn't have any windows looking out into the yard, because it was in the middle of the wing. Instead it had windows and doors that looked into the house and on the north side windows faced what looked to be a garden, only it was still in side the house surrounded by other rooms and hallways.  
  
Sitya and Dawn looked up from where they were placing plates on the long table and grinned when they saw Troi.  
  
Troi saw their expressions and immediately asked, "What did you do Sitya?"  
  
"I think I got rid of Kirk permanently for you."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I told him you were too busy with other guys and asked if he would like to leave a message. He turned really red when he heard that and left real quick too."  
  
Troi looked dismayed, "You didn't do that did you?" Sitya just nodded totally unconcerned about her friend's reaction. "Well… then… he might think I'm a…." she trailed off.  
  
Sitya couldn't take it any more and started laughing, Dawn joined in. "Don't worry. I didn't say anything like that. I just threatened bodily harm if he didn't stop pestering you. Just as I promised I would."  
  
Troi sighed in relief and went to sit at the table. The Jedi looked at each other and then made their way to the table as well. Troi opened up one of the boxes of pizzas and began slicing the pieces and putting them on plates and then distributed them out, first to the Jedi and then to the waiting girls.  
  
"So what made your ship the way it is now?" Dawn asked.  
  
Rick answered, "We encountered some disturbances in the atmosphere and whatever it was fried the engines and the navigating equipment. We practically glided our way down to the surface and it was through considerable luck that we actually landed in your backyard, with as little damage as it had."  
  
Jake spoke up too, "Yeah, we could have been fried."  
  
They continued to eat and asked various questions about each other's planets and lifestyles.  
  
The young ones were wide-awake and talking a great deal to each other, but Qui-Gon was indeed tired. He tried to suppress a yawn, but failed and Troi saw.  
  
"Would you like to go to a room and sleep?"  
  
Qui-Gon nodded, "Yes that would be nice."  
  
Troi nodded her head as well, "You and your apprentice can sleep in Sitya's wing. Jack can sleep in mine and Rick can sleep in Dawn's."  
  
"Why do I get two in my wing and you only get one?"  
  
Troi shrugged, "Does it matter?"  
  
Sitya grumbled, "No."  
  
The three girls stood up and gestured for the respective Jedi to follow them to their quarters.  
  
Troi led Jack out of the dining room from the north and along the hallway that opened out into the indoor garden, she then took him up stairs at the end of the hall that brought them to the second floor.  
  
She pointed to the room on their left. "I suggest you take that one, it's the biggest and most comfortable guest room in this wing. And the other side has a view of the garden below."  
  
Jack nodded, "Whatever you think is best."  
  
Troi walked over to the nearest door and opened it up. The room inside was indeed large. Jack looked around, you could fit at least five of his own sleeping quarters inside this one room, he thought. Troi proceeded to show him the different devices and things in the room, the bathroom, the closet, and how to open up the balcony doors. She then opened a door on the other side of the room and stepped out to show Jack the garden below.  
  
"It's a Roman garden, I thought it would be cool to have one in the house, just like the Romans did."  
  
"It's nice. Where's your room?"  
  
Troi pointed to her right. "Just over there. The only other room that has the garden view." She looked at her watch 10:30. "I'm going to see if I can find Dawn, she was supposed to cut my hair tonight and I want to know if she still sill." She picked up a strand. "Its getting kind of scruffy looking."  
  
Jack didn't want to be left in a huge room by himself and decided to go with her. "Besides, I could look around without getting lost."  
  
  
  
Dawn and Rick left the dining room as the others were leaving as well. She walked down the hallway towards her side of the mansion and up the grand staircase to the second level.  
  
"Take your pick, they're all empty. Except for that one," she pointed to her right. "That one's mine."  
  
"Alright." He walked towards the one directly in front of him. "Is this one okay?"  
  
Dawn nodded and walked over to open the door.  
  
When Rick walked in, stopped and stared. 'Wow, I wish the Jedi Temple had rooms like this.'  
  
Dawn, totally oblivious to her companions staring, started pointing out features of the bedroom, starting with the bathroom and moving over to the balcony. Finally she led him out of the room and into a different hallway that looked down into what looked to be an art gallery.  
  
"We have a swimming pool, and air room, a couple of gyms, and a couple other things." She looked at him. "Just tell me if there's somewhere specific you want to go and I'll give you directions or just take you there."  
  
Rick nodded.  
  
"Now I have to go downstairs to the salon and practice some cosmetology stuff and I was supposed to cut Troi's hair. You can stay here if you want or go explore the mansion." Her voice lowered. "But there are rooms where you are not allowed to enter. I and my friends included, would very much appreciate it, if you didn't go in them."  
  
Rick rolled his eyes. "Come on. It can't be that bad. What do you guys got in there? Massive weapons?"  
  
Dawn was glaring at him, dead serious. "Yes, as a matter of fact, all kinds. Ancient, modern and experimental. Also other things, but that's classified. I would tell you if we were permanently working together, but that hasn't happened yet."  
  
"Has anyone gotten into those rooms before?"  
  
"Once. He was one of our clients who asked for our help, but he just wanted to see what kind of stuff we have in there and then report it to his boss."  
  
"What happened to him?"  
  
"He made the unfortunate mistake of walking into a room where Sitya was doing an experiment. She was testing chemicals, seeing what kind of chemical mixtures would make the biggest boom. He walked into the room, shut the door and then got blown to smithereens when the mixture exploded." She made a face. "It was really messy."  
  
Rick looked uncomfortable. "Well, how do I know which rooms not to go in?"  
  
"Don't worry, you'll know. If the door's locked, leave it alone."  
  
Rick still looked uncomfortable. "How about I go with you and you can point out stuff to me. Like what I can and can not touch."  
  
Dawn was about to argue. She didn't want a guy from another galaxy hovering over her, while she did her cosmetology thing, but an idea started to form in her head. "Alright, but if you come with me, you have to get your hair cut."  
  
"What's wrong with my hair?"  
  
"Well, for starters, it just looks out of place. Out of this world, please forgive the bad pun. I think that all you Jedi should get a hair cut."  
  
"But I don't want to. I like my hair the way it is.  
  
"Well, why didn't you just say that? When everything's done and you still want your hair to be the way it was before I can make it so it looks the same.  
  
Rick shrugged. "What harm could it do? Alright let's go."  
  
Dawn grinned. "This way." And she headed back towards the staircase.  
  
  
  
"Pick any bedroom you want, except that one." Sitya said as she pointed to her own.  
  
"What's that smell?" Obi-Wan made a face.  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes. "The pool. Don't touch my stereo system in there." Her eyes narrowed. "If you do, I'll kill you."  
  
Obi-Wan rolled his own eyes, while Qui-Gon said "I hardly think that's a reasonable punishment for someone touching your stereo system."  
  
"When it takes you months to get the sound just right, it is." Sitya answered testily.  
  
Qui-Gon sighed. Eric was right; she was the worst one. "I think I'm going to retire for the night. It's been a long day."  
  
"Alright. I'll grab you some clothes to wear." She turned and left, leaving the two Jedi alone.  
  
Qui-Gon pointed to his left. "I'll take that little room over there. I think you should take that one over there." He pointed directly in front of him.  
  
"Yes Master."  
  
Sitya came back a few seconds later, huffing slightly. "Here you go." She handed him a bundle.  
  
"Thank you, Miss Basts."  
  
"I'm going to find Dawn. See what she's up to." Sitya glanced around nervously.  
  
"Why? You scared of us?" Obi-Wan grinned.  
  
"No. I just want to see what she's doing." She shot back.  
  
"Alright. I'll go with you."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Why not? I'm not tired and it'll give me a chance to look around the house." He reasoned.  
  
"Don't you have some Jedi thing to do or something?"  
  
"No."  
  
"I think it's a good idea." Qui-Gon interrupted.  
  
"Oh alright, come on. I think she's in the salon.  
  
  
  
"Okay Rick. I need you to sit up for awhile." Dawn wrapped a towel around his head and started to dry his hair. When she was satisfied she took out a pair of scissors.  
  
"Do you really think this is necessary?" he nervously asked.  
  
"Of course. You'll look normal in no time." She saw Troi, Sitya, Jack and Obi-Wan enter the room. "Hi." She waved.  
  
Jack and Obi-Wan were looking at Rick warily. "What are you doing?" they asked at the same time.  
  
"Cutting his hair." She snipped off a clump of hair and the girls saw the three Jedi wince. "Don't worry. You're all getting a hair cut. So you don't look like you're from another planet."  
  
"But we are." Obi-Wan whined.  
  
"You're getting your hair cut so you don't look like it." Dawn patiently explained as she snipped of some more hair. "Besides when this is all over, I can make look the same as you have it now."  
  
Dawn moved around Rick, fixing his hair into something that guys wore on Earth. "Stay there." She pointed at Rick and moved to a cabinet to get another towel. She reached up and saw a package right next to the stack of towels. 'Oh this is so tempting.' She thought. Mentally shrugging, she grabbed the package and walked back to Rick. 'I can fix it later.'  
  
Troi saw the package and started to giggle. Sitya looked over at her, totally not understanding. Troi leaned over and whispered in her ear. Then she started to giggle too.  
  
Jack and Obi-Wan looked over at them wondering what was going on.  
  
"Now this stuff is going to help your hair not go into shock after cutting it. And it'll stop it from going all frizzy and puffy." Dawn explained with a straight face.  
  
Dawn mixed the contents of the package with peroxide and a thick pink paste formed. Grinning evilly she placed a large blob on top of Rick's hair and started to massage it in.  
  
  
  
"Why doesn't Jack need this pink stuff in his hair too?" Rick asked.  
  
"His hair isn't as fine as yours, so he doesn't need it." Dawn answered as she was cutting Obi-Wan's hair.  
  
"Am I going to need that stuff?" Obi-Wan asked horrified.  
  
Dawn looked up at Sitya and saw that she was nodding her head furiously. Dawn sighed. If she got caught with what she did to Rick she'd be in trouble, if she did it to Obi-Wan she'd really be in trouble.  
  
"No you don't."  
  
Obi-Wan exhaled in relief.  
  
Dawn snipped a few more stray hairs and declared she was finished.  
  
Obi-Wan immediately jumped off the chair and ran to a mirror to see what he looked like. "Hey. This really isn't that bad."  
  
"Of course it isn't!" Dawn looked over at Rick. "Time's up. We can take that stuff out now." She motioned him over to the sink.  
  
Rick walked over and sat in the chair and leaned back, while Dawn started to rinse his hair. Then when finished she rub dried it with a towel.  
  
"Okay. I think it's done." Dawn lifted the towel off with a flourish and all three girls started laughing hysterically.  
  
"What is it?" Rick looked over to Jack and Obi-Wan. Both had their mouths hanging wide open and were staring at him. They didn't answer.  
  
Rick walked over the mirror to see for himself and gasped in horror. "You turned my hair hot pink!!" he accused, glaring at Dawn.  
  
Dawn was wiping tears from her eyes, trying to catch her breath. "Come on relax. I think it suits you."  
  
Jack and Obi-Wan started to laugh.  
  
"Change it back. NOW!"  
  
"I can't." she seriously.  
  
"What!"  
  
"Alright, Jeez. You have no sense of humor." She walked over to the same cabinet where she had gotten the pink dye and pulled out another package. Then started to mix it with other chemicals.  
  
She brought a blue paste over to him. "Here. Leave this in for one hour and then take a shower to rinse it all out."  
  
Rick looked at her in total distrust.  
  
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Come on. What's the worst that could happen?"  
  
"My hair could fall out! Or maybe turn this fluorescent color into something that no one's seen before. No wait, it could glow in the dark and become a landing beacon for aircraft!" he shouted.  
  
"Calm down! I swear this will only take out all the color and you'll get your regular hair color back."  
  
Rick slowly took the bowl from her.  
  
Dawn looked over at the clock. "I think you might want to do that now so you can go to bed at a decent hour." It was 11:15. "I think we'll be getting up early to go to the mall and see if we can find you guys some normal clothes." She headed towards the door. "I'm going to my room to work on some clothes for fashions. Yell if you need anything." She disappeared around the corner.  
  
"Well. Looks like the shows over, so I'll be leaving too." Sitya turned for the door and Obi-Wan followed. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I don't know how to get back." He mumbled.  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes and continued walking towards the door.  
  
Rick left as well and Troi and Jack were the only ones left.  
  
"There's a show on TV that I want to watch. Do you want to see it too?"  
  
"Sure. What's it called?"  
  
"Friends." Troi jumped into a conversation explaining what it was about.  
  
  
  
Because of Qui-Gon's statement that they didn't know how long the Jedi would be staying and not knowing when their missions would come in, it was decided that it would be in everyone's best interest for them to get to know some of the locations around them. Of course on of the all-important places was West Edmonton Mall. And that would be the first location to hit.  
  
Everyone piled into the minivan nicknamed the 'jellybean'. Sitya would be driving with Qui-Gon sitting beside her, Dawn and Rick sat in the middle and Obi-Wan, Troi and Jack would sit in the back.  
  
Troi, like always, feeling to play the good hostess and make noise, in real quiet situations began to talk. "There's over 600 stores in this Mall. We're sure to find some real clothes for you to wear." She looked at the Jedi's borrowed sweat pants and shirts. "Yeah you definitely need some real clothes."  
  
Silence still filled the van. So Troi kept talking. "Did you know that West Ed is twice as long as the 'Titanic'?" She paused thinking and blushed. "Sorry dumb question. You guys haven't even been in this solar system until now."  
  
"What's 'Titanic'?" Jack asked trying to make Troi fell better.  
  
"A really big ship that struck an iceberg on it's maiden voyage and sank. A lot of people died, over half I think it was." Sitya interjected.  
  
"Why over half." Qui-Gon asked.  
  
"There wasn't enough lifeboats." After a blank look Sitya continued. "You know emergency boats, lifepods." She finally got a nod of understanding and then continued. "There wasn't enough lifeboats for even half the passengers and when the boat was sinking, no one believed it could. It was called 'the unsinkable ship' and people believed it. Even with the lifeboats that were available weren't filled to capacity, leaving even more people behind. One only had 12 people in it where it could be filled with 70." She paused thinking and then continued. "A lot of people died while the boat was sinking, but even more died in the water, because of the cold and the lifeboats waited to long to go back, for fear of being swamped."  
  
"How could people do something like that? I mean not having enough lifeboats for everyone to escape?"  
  
Dawn spoke up. "Back then there were classes of people. First, Second, and Third. First being extremely wealthy and going down to Third with being poor. First class took priority over all the other classes and as a result there were more First class people who survived than Third class. Third class had to wait for everyone else to be evacuated before they were allowed to get on to the lifeboats. This was a time when 'modern' technology was new. People thought they could do anything and expect no consequences."  
  
Troi felt safe to talk. "You guys should watch the movie 'Titanic' and see what it was like. It looks pretty real."  
  
Sitya interrupted again. "It was a corny movie with really bad romance in it. But yeah, I guess it's pretty realistic with all the class issues and the actual sinking."  
  
The conversations drifted to different subject areas with separate conversations going on and sometimes as a whole group.  
  
Finally after thirty minutes, around 8:45 AM, the crew arrived at West Ed, found a parking spot and made their way into the Mall.  
  
The entrance they went in was the one with the miniature golf course and pet store. The Jedi stood staring and blocked to traffic moving in and out of the building.  
  
Dawn and Troi smiled; thinking it was funny that the calm group of Jedi could be stopped speechless by something that they took for granted. Sitya on the other hand wasn't very patient with the delay.  
  
"Come on you guys! You look like a bunch of stupid tourists!"  
  
"That's because we are." Obi-Wan argued.  
  
"The stupid part I totally agree with, but try not to look like it." Sitya shot back glaring.  
  
Qui-Gon wisely stepped in between the two to prevent anything physical from happening. "Where are we going to first?" he asked. Sitya and Obi-Wan didn't answer and continued to glare at each other. Qui-Gon disappointed with his apprentice's behavior scowled at him, which made Obi- Wan look away and focus his attention on the rest of the group. Sitya smirked in triumph, but also received a look from her friends.  
  
"I think we should go swimming first." Dawn answered. She looked at their clothes. "And after swimming we should get you guys some real clothes. But first we have to get you guys some swimming trunks."  
  
Everyone nodded and made their way to the swim wear shop near the entrance to the World Water Park.  
  
The guys went into the shop to pick out their swimming gear with the help of Troi. They were entering the store when Dawn shouted last minute advice. "Make sure they're trunks!!"  
  
It took approximately thirty minutes for the Jedi to buy their purchases, with money donated by the girl's boss Eric.  
  
The group then went into the respective change rooms and agreed to meet where the guys first came out of their change rooms  
  
  
  
When the girls were finished changing and placing their belongings in the lockers Dawn finally brought up the issue of Sitya being childish.  
  
"What do you mean 'I'm being childish'?"  
  
"What about that little episode when we first got in the mall?" Troi asked, backing up Dawn.  
  
Sitya turned her head and focused on something in her locker. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Come on Sitya! You've been giving Obi-Wan a hard time. Lighten up a bit!" Dawn said.  
  
"He's annoying! Besides what about your episode with dying Rick's hair that hot pink color?"  
  
Dawn blushed. "I didn't do it on purpose."  
  
Troi exploded laughing. "Yes you did! I saw you. You knew exactly what you were doing!"  
  
The girls broke up laughing, earning glances from the few other people in the changing room.  
  
"You have to admit," Troi said. "That was pretty funny!"  
  
Dawn and Sitya shot glances at each other. Both had been interrogated with an issue involving one of the guys and both felt it only fair to tease Troi about one of her 'little episodes.'  
  
"You know," Dawn started. "Sitya and I aren't the only ones who have done something to the guys."  
  
Troi stopped laughing and warily looked at the other two. "What have I done?"  
  
Sitya snorted. "You keep checking out Rick's butt."  
  
"I do not!"  
  
"Yes you do! It's like the first thing you check out when you meet a new guy."  
  
"Deny it all you want Troi, but you do." Dawn said.  
  
The girls walked towards the showers and then when finished headed out to meet the guys.  
  
  
  
Placing their clothes in the lockers Qui-Gon addressed the three young Jedi. "In the future I would like for you to be more mature during disagreements with our hostesses."  
  
Jack looked at Qui-Gon and asked. "What are you talking to me for? I'm not the one who's fighting with them."  
  
"You're not having any pBoblems with them, because one of the them keeps checking out your butt." Rick said.  
  
"I was making general statement for all of you to follow. Not just one person." Qui-Gon said.  
  
Jack didn't listen to Qui-Gon and turned to Rick. "Which one?"  
  
Qui-Gon rolled his eyes in a 'I-don't-want-to-hear-this' way and moved away from the group. "I will be expecting you shortly at the meeting place." Then he turned and left.  
  
"Please don't tell me you haven't noticed."  
  
"Which one?" Jack repeated.  
  
"Troi. She's been looking at it since the minute you walked into the house."  
  
Jack wanted a second opinion and turned to Obi-Wan. "Has she?"  
  
"Well, yeah. She tries to hide, like looking when she doesn't think anyone is watching, but you can still see it."  
  
Jack actually looked pleased with this information and smiled. "Well, let's go meet Master Qui-Gon and see what this World Water Park is about."  
  
  
  
The three Jedi found Master Qui-Gon waiting outside the entrance to the men's locker room. The older Jedi looked at the three young men and wondered what the rest of the conversation was like. 'Maybe I should have stayed.' he thought.  
  
"It's freezing out here." Obi-Wan complained shivering. "Why aren't you cold Master?"  
  
"I learn to ignore it Obi-Wan. It would become a useful talent for you to learn as well."  
  
"Yes Master." Obi-Wan replied obediently.  
  
"Where are they?" Jack asked impatiently. "I want to see this Park place."  
  
"They will be here shortly Jack." Qui-Gon replied.  
  
A few seconds later the three girls did come out of their changing rooms and headed over to where the Jedi were waiting. Then they went up the 'hill' to where the beach was located.  
  
On the way up Jack moved closer to Troi and started to have a conversation with her.  
  
Dawn looked at Sitya, smiled and remarked. "I hope she doesn't kick him, like she did with the last one." Both girls laughed and Troi turned around and glanced at them. Both gave innocent smiles, but couldn't stop giggling.  
  
The group made it to the top of the 'hill' and the Jedi saw the World Water Park for the first time.  
  
"Cool." Jack said.  
  
Dawn spoke up. "Do we want to save some lawn chairs for us?" she asked as they surveyed the sparsely populated beach.  
  
"Well if all of us are going swimming I don't see the point." Sitya said.  
  
"I'll be staying," said Qui-Gon.  
  
"Always the old fart who stays behind." Sitya muttered and was slapped on the arm by Dawn, followed by a 'shhhh'.  
  
They only picked out four lawn chairs, because they didn't think that everyone would be there at the same time.  
  
Qui-Gon took command and started issuing commands. "Alright we'll meet back here around 1:00 PM." he waited for everyone to nod their understanding. "Alright, now for partners."  
  
"What d'ya mean partners? Can't we go off and do our own thing?" Sitya exclaimed.  
  
"I have spoken to Eric and both of us think that it would be wise that from now on everyone does things with their partner from the mission pairings." Qui-Gon was interrupted by a chorus of 'You talked to Eric?' He ignored it and continued. "We thought it best to do the pairings now, so you can get to know your partner, learn to know their likes and dislikes and other such things as that."  
  
"What does learning about their likes and dislikes have to do with our missions?" Dawn asked.  
  
Qui-Gon took a deep breath and wished that there was a Master present that had experience dealing with girls. "I don't feel inclined to go into any details. Don't you three just follow Eric's orders without question?" There was no response and Qui-Gon took that as a good sign.  
  
"Who're our partners?" Troi asked.  
  
"You and Jack will be going together up to and through the mission." This statement was greeted with enthusiasm as Troi and Jack moved closer together and started to talk. 'Well at least that's a 1/3 success so far.' Qui-Gon thought. "You two can go ahead and do what you want." He watched as the two headed towards the wave pool.  
  
Qui-Gon turned to the remaining four and braced himself. "Dawn and Rick will be going together." This was met with somewhat less enthusiasm than Troi and Jack. Both moved away from the group and headed towards the slides. 'A some what success.'  
  
"This is totally flippin' unfair!" Sitya screeched. "I can't work with a guy that doesn't even look like he's hit puberty!"  
  
"I can't work with a girl, who's headstrong, stubborn and criticizes everything!" Obi-Wan shot back.  
  
Qui-Gon interrupted. "Reaching puberty has nothing to do with successfully completing your future missions. And I assure Miss Basts that Obi-Wan has indeed been through puberty and is a healthy 20 year old." He turned to address Obi-Wan. "Obi-Wan it can be very useful to be stubborn, when things need to be done and they are not going as planned." He then turned so that the two of them were included in the conversation. "I expect you two to behave yourselves and act civil towards each other. Is that understood?"  
  
He got slow nods in acknowledgment. "Now, you two will sit down and we will discuss whatever comes to mind."  
  
Qui-Gon sat back and waited for Sitya or Obi-Wan to make the first move. Long minutes of silence stretched out and Qui-Gon began to despair. 'Please Obi-Wan' he mind sent. 'be mature and be the first to speak.'  
  
Obi-Wan stared at his Master and then turned to Sitya who was staring out at the pool trying to ignore them.  
  
"So what kind of stuff do like or not?"  
  
Sitya turned to Obi-Wan and stated coldly. "I don't like you."  
  
Qui-Gon let down his head in frustration and sighed. 'Please help me.' He thought.  
  
Obi-Wan exploded. "Do you've got an attitude pBoblem?!"  
  
"Only around people I don't like!" she shot back.  
  
Qui-Gon shook his head while the two kept throwing insults at each other. "Enough." he broke up the fight. "Now you two grow up or you'll be sitting in time out." He paused making sure that he had their attention. "I believe Miss Basts that Obi-Wan asked you a polite question and I expect you to give him a polite answer."  
  
Sitya turned silent and looked out towards the wave pool. "Swimming. I like swimming." She looked at Obi-Wan. "And I really hate Brussel sprouts."  
  
'Success.' Qui-Gon thought 'At last progress.' He turned expectantly to Obi-Wan and waited for his reply.  
  
"I like music and holovids. And really dislike heights." He finished and sat silently.  
  
Qui-Gon thought it was going to be another one of those long pauses and was surprised when Sitya asked him a question.  
  
"You mean you have a fear of heights?" she asked. Directing her full attention towards Obi-Wan.  
  
"Yes." he answered slowly. His suspicion rose. "Why?"  
  
"Just wondering." Sitya answered cheerfully, a smile on her face.  
  
Qui-Gon didn't think that they would make much more progress with him around and thought it best for them to work things out on their own. He also had a bad feeling about sending them off, but thought if there was any trouble they would be smart enough to come to him to settle their differences. "Alright you two, you can leave." The two stood up. But if anything should come up, you come to me."  
  
The two grumbled their understanding and moved out into the crowd and disappeared.  
  
  
  
Troi and Jack were out in the deep end of the pool talking while they waited for the waves to start. Neither had any pBoblems about teaming up together and were getting along rather well.  
  
"So this soup thing," Jack said. "It's really good huh?"  
  
Troi nodded enthusiastically. "It's really good. Maybe I could make some for you."  
  
"What's in it?"  
  
"Just about everything. Usually it's just what's in the house." she laughed. "It's different every single time."  
  
"But if it's different every time, how do you know it's good or not?"  
  
"My cooking is always good. At least that's what Sitya says. And that's why I usually end up doing all the cooking."  
  
"All the time? Isn't that a bit much? Shouldn't the other two help out?"  
  
Troi looked at Jack with a mock serious look on her face. "Well, Sitya's an awful cook, she can't even cook a pizza pop in the microwave without it exploding. And Dawn just doesn't like doing that sort of thing. I really don't mind, I like it."  
  
The wave horn sounded followed by screams from the people surrounding them.  
  
Jack looked around frantically and asked if they were under attack.  
  
"No, silly. It's just the horn that tells us that the waves are coming."  
  
"Oh." he answered sheepishly.  
  
"It's alright." She glanced over to the very end of the pool and saw the first wave coming at them. "Get ready."  
  
The two had a blast and were laughing together in between waves.  
  
"That was a good one." Jack sputtered as he came up from the water.  
  
Troi was laughing as she looked at him. 'He looks so cute when he's wet.' she thought. Her attention was so focused on Jack that she didn't notice the huge wave coming up behind her.  
  
Jack's eyes widened. "Look out!!"  
  
It was too late and the wave smashed into Troi pushing her down into the water. She lost her bearings and was confused for a few seconds, then strong arms pulled her up out of the water. She coughed and sputtered water out of her mouth.  
  
"Are you alright?" concern was in Jack's voice.  
  
She nodded feeling stupid about being rescued in a wave pool.  
  
"How 'bout we get out and sit down for awhile?" Jack said as he started to maneuver her towards the beach. Thankfully the waves had stopped so they didn't have to fight to stay on their feet.  
  
'At least there's an upside to this.' Troi thought as Jack held her hand while they walked out of the water.  
  
  
  
As they walked Dawn turned back to see Sitya, her arms up in obvious frustration. "Someone's not happy." she smirked.  
  
Rick stopped and turned to see Sitya and Obi-Wan pointing fingers as they threw insults at each other. "Master Qui-Gon has his work cut out for him." Rick laughed. "Those two are going to need full time supervision."  
  
"Have you ever been on a water slide?" Dawn asked.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
She pointed up. "That's a water slide."  
  
"Those pipes?"  
  
"Yeah. I guess you could look at them that way." Dawn smiled as a nasty idea came to her. "Come on I'll take you on a nice easy one."  
  
Rick followed her through the maze of stairs and as they climbed she explained how the slides worked. "These pipes are rides. Water and people go down them."  
  
"I had to climb through pipes once, but that was to escape some droids coming after me, not really for entertainment. What a strange culture you have."  
  
"Well thanks." She sarcastically answered.  
  
"I meant no insult."  
  
"Whatever. You guys walk around in your big Bobes and hooker boots, but that doesn't mean I get to call you a freak or say your culture's weird."  
  
'Wow.' Rick thought. 'Touché.'  
  
"Here we are." she pointed to the closest slide. "You go on that one. You cross your arms and legs and go down."  
  
He stepped into the water and did as she instructed. 'Now what?' he asked himself.  
  
"You have to lie down first Rick. Then cross your arms and legs."  
  
The lifeguard was looking at him like he was a freak.  
  
"It's his first time." she whispered as she passed.  
  
"Right." he gave Rick another look and turned back to Dawn. "So where are you from?"  
  
"Stony Plain."  
  
"Cool. I've been there. Good hockey teams." He tried to think of something else to say. "So what're you doing around 1:00?"  
  
Dawn turned her head and rolled her eyes so the lifeguard couldn't see her. 'Why is it that guys always ask like they're the most important thing in the world when they're asking a girl out?. It totally makes them sound snobbish.' She felt like playing dumb. "Why?" she asked.  
  
"Ummm. I was wondering if you wanted to do something together. I get off at 1:00."  
  
Dawn was going to answer but Rick stepped in next to her. "She's taking me shopping."  
  
The lifeguard immediately backed off after that and Dawn was almost grateful for Rick stepping in. Almost, she could take care of herself she thought.  
  
The lifeguard then started to give instructions on how to properly go on the ride.  
  
Dawn stepped into the second slide, sat down and waited. "Race ya to the bottom."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Dawn pushed off and went down the slide.  
  
"Go." the lifeguard told him.  
  
Rick pushed himself off the slide quickly turned down. "Ahhh!" he yelped in fear when he saw that the slide went straight down. Soon he was parallel to the ground again and was skidding to a stop when he fell into a pool of water. Under the water he thought 'This is crazy!' He surfaced just in time to receive the splash Dawn made as she entered to the pool.  
  
She surfaced a few seconds later. "How was it?" she smiled as she wiped water from her eyes.  
  
"That wasn't fun at all." He bent his head sideways to try to get some water out of his ear. "You could have warned me."  
  
Dawn laughed. "That would have taken all the fun out of it." she watched him shake his head. "Well for me at least. Come on we have to get out."  
  
Once they were out he looked back up at the slide. "I can't believe you sent me down that thing."  
  
She was still laughing. "Oh, get over it, besides now you can brag that you did it. I haven't gone down that thing before."  
  
"What? You haven't gone down that death trap, but you'll send me?"  
  
"Hey, you're a Jedi. You're supposed to see things before they happen. You should have seen it coming. And need I remind you that I just went down that slide."  
  
He rolled his eyes and fumed as she continued to laugh at him. They walked around the pool and came to a ride at the back of the Park, where a boat came to a stop.  
  
"There's Jack and Troi." Rick pointed.  
  
Troi and Jack climbed out and he picked up the boat and handed it to a waiting father. Troi giggled as she felt Jack's bicep muscle pretending she needed help off the slide.  
  
Dawn blocked the view with her hand as she shook her head. "I don't know her, really."  
  
"I think we're both embarrassed." He said as he returned a wave to Jack. He turned to look at her when he saw that she was gone. He soon spotted her taking a floating device from a lifeguard. He ran over to catch up.  
  
"Hey you in the black trunks. No running." He turned to see a lifeguard looking at him.  
  
"Way to get in trouble." Dawn teased. "Grab one of those tubes."  
  
He obeyed and followed her up the stairs. At the top she showed him how to sit in the tube and then they pushed their way over a small drop and into a circular maze.  
  
"So" Dawn said. "What do you do for fun?" He looked at her. "Never mind, how about an easy question? What kind of stuff do like and hate?"  
  
"I like flying and I really don't like waterslides."  
  
"Alright. Lighten up a little. I'll go now. Hmm. I like money and spending it. Oh and movies and candy. I really don't like smokers and bratty kids."  
  
"That's really deep."  
  
"Shut up. Yours wasn't either. You might want to hang on. There's a slight drop behind you."  
  
He looked behind him as he slid down a slope and hit a wall of water. He could hear Dawn laughing as she came down and hit him.  
  
"I don't like this." he grumbled.  
  
"Suck it up princess. We're supposed to be bonding."  
  
He snorted.  
  
"Hey, I wouldn't mind if we switched partners. And I think Sitya and Obi-Wan would both be happier. But both of our bosses think that this system is the best."  
  
"Master."  
  
"Whatever!"  
  
A group of kids came down and sent them into an open area. Rick floated towards the lifeguard as Dawn was pushed to the side by the group of kids.  
  
At the bottom Rick waited for her. "Where is she?" He climbed the stairs and looked for her in the open area.  
  
"Where is he?" Dawn looked around. "Did he take off? That is so immature, what a jerk." Dawn left and headed towards the lawn chairs to lie down and wait for him.  
  
Rick came back down the stairs and still didn't see her. 'She must be stuck.' he thought. He continued to wait.  
  
'What a complete jerk!' Dawn thought as she approached the chairs. She looked up and saw Qui-Gon.  
  
"Oh. Hello, Mister. . . I mean Master Qui-Gon.  
  
"Hello. How is your day going?"  
  
Dawn sighed "It could be better. A lot better." she admitted.  
  
"Please sit and tell what the trouble is."  
  
She sat on the lawn chair and lay back, but then she felt like she was seeing a shrink so she sat up again. "Well, Rick is a little upset with me. I played a joke on him so I guess he has a right to be. But he took off on the last slide and that's just plain rude."  
  
"That doesn't sound like Rick. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding."  
  
Dawn shrugged her shoulders, not quite believing him. "By the way. How are Sitya and Obi-Wan doing?"  
  
"They're not getting along yet. But I have full confidence in them that they will settle their differences."  
  
Dawn nodded. "Both are stubborn it seems, it might take a long time."  
  
  
  
Rick was starting to get really frustrated. 'She should have been down here a long time ago. It's not like she's fat enough to get stuck. She better not be playing another joke.' Rick then decided to get Master Qui- Gon's help. 'Master Qui-Gon.' he mind sent. 'I've lost track of Dawn.'  
  
He got an answer right away. 'She's here with me. Come over here.'  
  
Rick groaned, he'd pBobably get a lecture from Dawn about separating.  
  
When he was in sight of the chairs he saw a glare coming from Dawn directed at him. Rick briefly bowed to Master Qui-Gon and sat down.  
  
"It seems that you two have some pBoblems."  
  
"Yeah." Dawn put in. "Where did you decide to take off to?" she questioned Rick.  
  
"I didn't take off. I waited." Rick defended himself.  
  
"Both of you are too old for this type of behavior. I expect you to work this out right now." Qui-Gon said.  
  
"That's fine." Dawn faced Rick. "I'm sorry about that slide. It was childish."  
  
"I'm sorry too. Even though I did wait."  
  
Qui-Gon shook his head at Rick.  
  
"Come on." Dawn said as she stood up. "I'll take you to the hot tub. All you have to do is sit, it's real easy. Master Qui-Gon you could come too. Lots of old people like hot tubs." She stopped herself. "I mean almost everyone likes hot tubs. I'm not saying that I think you're old."  
  
Rick smiled as Dawn made herself look like an idiot.  
  
"No thank you Miss Tells. I'm afraid I'm not really comfortable with this lack of clothing." He gestured down to his green swimming trunks. "I'll just stay here. Besides Obi-Wan and Sitya might need me."  
  
"No doubt." She blurted. She turned to Rick. "The hot tubs this way."  
  
  
  
Troi and Jack made it back to where Qui-Gon was waiting.  
  
Qui-Gon noticed the two were holding hands and wondered if them getting too friendly would hurt their future assignments. He immediately stopped that thought. Both of them were professionals when it came to work and he would be happy for them if a relationship started between them.  
  
"Hello Master Qui-Gon." Troi said. "Are you enjoying yourself?"  
  
Qui-Gon immediately liked Troi. She was by far more polite than Sitya and this meeting looked to be promising. "Yes I am and thank you for asking. Please sit down." He gestured to the chairs that were surrounding him and was a bit surprised when the two sat on the same chair. "Although I must say that I'm not overly comfortable in this swim wear."  
  
"You can put a shirt on, if you're that uncomfortable." Troi offered.  
  
"That's alright. But thank you for offering. So what have you two learned about each other?"  
  
Jack started and said. "She really loves soup. And she's going to make me some someday. She really hates seafood and every time she looks at it she feels like she's going to be sick."  
  
Jack paused long enough for Troi to jump in. "Jack likes learning more about the Jedi arts, but he hates having to learn history."  
  
Qui-Gon nodded his approval at the two being able to share information about themselves to each other. He noticed Jack frowning. "What is it Jack?"  
  
"I never told her about what I liked and what I didn't."  
  
Troi thought too and realized that she never told Jack about her feelings of seafood. "And I never told you about my seafood thing."  
  
Qui-Gon tipped his head and thought. "Maybe there is more to this. Tell me about anything that may seem weird to you, something you've felt or sensed without knowing where it was coming from."  
  
"Well. . ." she started. "Dawn, Sitya and I have always known when one of us was hurt or needed help."  
  
Qui-Gon nodded for her to continue, interested in what she had to say.  
  
"We've always known when danger was coming. Like when we know to duck when there are bullets coming our way or bad guys around a corner. We always just thought it was a freak thing or something. The three of us haven't really discussed it. We thought it was just too weird."  
  
"How often does this occur?" Qui-Gon asked.  
  
"All the time. Even when we're not on missions. Eric says that our 'bond' is pBobably what makes us such a good team and close friends. We usually know what the other is thinking."  
  
"Interesting." Qui-Gon said. "I think that it is very possible that you three are force strong. In fact I'm sure of it."  
  
"Cool." Troi said. "Does that mean I could be a Jedi too?"  
  
"In fact it could. With you three having the talents you do now without any training, it's quite possible that you could become very strong and useful Jedi."  
  
"Cool." Troi said again.  
  
Jack nodded his agreement with Troi. He was happy they had another thing in common, besides liking each other.  
  
"Jack." Qui-Gon said. "Whenever you two have some free time. I would like you to teach some of the Jedi arts to Troi. Nothing complicated, but simple stuff." He looked at the two and saw a sort of sad look on their faces. The two were having fun right now, something either of them rarely had. He decided to let them have some more fun before he got Jack to start training Troi. "But not today." Their faces brightened. "You two go on and have some more fun."  
  
"Thank you Master Qui-Gon." Jack said as he got up and held out a hand to help Troi up, which she accepted.  
  
Qui-Gon watched as the two moved back into the crowd and disappeared from view hand in hand.  
  
  
  
"What should we do now?" Jack asked. "Do you want to go back into the pool?" Troi made a face and Jack laughed. "Just checking."  
  
"How very kind of you." Troi said as she gently pushed him away with the hand he wasn't holding.  
  
Jack recovered and came right back to where he was before. Right beside her.  
  
She gestured to a green slide, which had a free fall at the end into a deep pool. "Do you want to try that one?"  
  
He shrugged. "Sure."  
  
"Are you a strong swimmer?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"The sign." she pointed to a white sign with red lettering. "You have to be a strong swimmer to go on this ride."  
  
He looked at her and grinned. "I think I am. Besides I proved it a while ago." Troi looked at him puzzled. "I saved you from that huge wave, when you almost drowned and I took you ashore."  
  
"I didn't need you help that much." she replied indignantly. "I would have been alright."  
  
"Glad you think so low of my efforts." Jack mumbled pretending to be hurt.  
  
"No. I didn't mean it that way. . ." she stopped when she realized he was joking. She pushed him again.  
  
Jack laughed. Let's go see what this slide is about."  
  
The two went up the stairs and stood in line. "Who goes first?" Jack asked.  
  
"I think it's only fair that I go first." She looked at him. "That way it could be my turn to save you."  
  
"I think I'd like that." Jack said and noticed Troi blush.  
  
It was soon Troi's turn and she went down the slide. Jack waited for the lifeguard to give him the signal to go. When he got the okay he pushed himself into the slide. He turned in circles and then before he knew it, he was flying through the air and then he was under water. He surfaced, made it to the ladder and climbed out.  
  
Troi was laughing. "You should have seen your face! It was hilarious!"  
  
"I'm sure it was. I didn't think it would happen that fast."  
  
"Come on." Troi pulled on his arm. "Let's try a different type of slide."  
  
She led Jack to the back of the World Water Park to a ride that involved something that looked like a boat.  
  
He looked at it. 'I think I might like this ride.' He thought as he noticed people getting out of packed boats.  
  
It was their turn and they carried their boat up the stairs to where the ride started.  
  
The lifeguard watched then set the boat down and get in. "Wait 'till I tell you when to go."  
  
Jack and Troi nodded.  
  
After a while the lifeguard gave the okay and they were off. They went through twists and turns and soon it was over.  
  
Jack got up and handed the boat to a waiting father with two kids. Then turned to Troi and offered to help her down.  
  
Troi pretended she was going to fall and grabbed his bicep instead. Jack reached out to steady her and asked if she was all right. She smiled and nodded.  
  
"Hey look. There's Dawn and Rick."  
  
Troi looked over to where Jack was pointing and indeed saw Dawn and Rick. Dawn had a hand up covering her face saying something to Rick. 'She's pBobably embarrassed.' She thought. 'She'll get over it.'  
  
"Where to now?"  
  
"Let's go to the food stand. I'm hungry."  
  
Jack's stomach growled right on cue. He laughed. "My stomach seem to think that I am too. Food sounds like a good idea."  
  
  
  
With the water up to her waist Dawn sat down and sighed. "Now this is nice."  
  
"I like this ride. In fact I think it's my favorite one." Rick said as he settled into the hot tub.  
  
Dawn looked around and tried to think of something to say. 'I'm supposed to be nice, but I don't know how to start up a conversation with him. He's not even from this solar system. There's nothing to talk about.' "How long have you been a Jedi?"  
  
"All my life." Rick said as he watched the bubbles.  
  
"Doesn't that get kind of boring. I mean haven't you done anything else or want to be anything else?"  
  
Rick laughed. "I assure you Dawn that being a Jedi is hardly boring. Of course we are above all diplomats, but there are occasions when we're dodging blaster bolts or running for our lives." He paused playing with the jets, making the water rise in the direction that he pointed the jet. "Besides, being a Jedi is a high honor and since I am able to use the Force, why not master it?" He looked over and was pleased to see that Dawn was paying attention. "It's something I have. So why not use it?"  
  
"I guess I see your point."  
  
"What about you? Have you always been an expert in martial arts and weapons?"  
  
Dawn laughed. "No! When I was a little girl I always wanted to be a ballerina." She had a far away look in her eyes. "I even got my parents to put me in lessons." She smiled wistfully and then turned sad and looked at Rick. "I stopped ballet classes after my parents died."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Dawn shrugged. "I just try to remember them the way they were when I had them." she twirled a finger in the water. "Anyway, it was after my parents deaths when Eric took me, Troi and Sitya in and set us up to be specialists in any number of fields." She looked at Rick and grinned. "Especially martial arts and weapons."  
  
Rick couldn't help but be curious about her life and asked another question. "How did you three meet?"  
  
"That goes back to the parent thing. Our families were on the same plane when it crashed. No survivors. The three of us were orphans and I guess Eric saw something in us. We first met each other when this social worker came in and told us that she had found a new home for us." Her expression turned angry. "That was one day after our parents funerals. Do you know how hard it was for us to listen to her? It was like she was telling us to just forget about our parents and welcome this stranger with open arms."  
  
"How did things work out?"  
  
"Everything worked after a while." she laughed. "But at first the three of us were little monsters. We made quite the team."  
  
"I imagine you still do." Rick commented dryly. "What does it feel like to work for someone you've never seen?"  
  
"I admit it is a little weird, but Eric's provided everything for us and more."  
  
"And more?"  
  
"Yes. How many kids can you think of who owns four cars and lives in a mansion with two other girls, with hardly any adult supervision?"  
  
Rick just looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Dawn realized what a dumb question she had just asked and turned red.  
  
"Sorry. Forgot you weren't from around here."  
  
"It's fine. Everyone makes mistakes." he smiled and then frowned. He turned to look at the bungee jump. "And I think someone's about to make one right now."  
  
Dawn had a dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach. "She wouldn't dare!"  
  
  
  
Sitya and Obi-Wan had been sitting in the hot tub for quite awhile. Well in reality it was Obi-Wan sitting in the hot tub and Sitya sat on the edge with her legs dangling in the water. About five minutes after they had entered the tub Sitya had sat out saying that hot tubes always made her feel like she was suffocating.  
  
That last statement was the last time they had even uttered word to each other and that was a fair time ago.  
  
Sitya shifted her position and started to gently kick her legs while she tapped her fingers against the side of the hot tub.  
  
Obi-Wan noticed that her fingers were tapping to the beat of the music over the sound system. He looked up and saw she was mouthing the words and bobbing her head to the music. He thought it was funny.  
  
She looked down and saw Obi-Wan looking at her. "What are you looking at?" she stopped her tapping and sat perfectly still.  
  
Obi-Wan saw no point in lying. "You."  
  
"Well stop it." she shifted uncomfortably.  
  
Obi-Wan saw an opening and went for it. "Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?" Sitya looked away and he grinned evilly. "It does, doesn't it."  
  
"No it doesn't." Sitya gritted her teeth.  
  
"Yes it does." Obi-Wan didn't want to give up his advantage of having her on the spot. "Why?" he answered his own question. "It's because I caught you lip synching wasn't it?" Sitya glared at him, trying to make him drop the subject. "I'll take that as a yes."  
  
"So what if it is? What's wrong with singing and dancing to good music?"  
  
"Nothing. I was just wondering." he paused. "That's what you three were doing before we arrived wasn't it?"  
  
"Yes it was. You ruined my venting session."  
  
"Huh."  
  
"It's just a way for to unwind for us and it works. At least for me anyway."  
  
"What was your song called?"  
  
"'Take a look around.'"  
  
"Why didn't you do it anyway?"  
  
Sitya looked alarmed. "Do you really think I would do something like that in front of total strangers?"  
  
"So far you haven't seemed to concerned about your actions in front of strangers." she looked at him with a drop-it-or-die expression. He ignored it. "You're scared aren't you? You're scared of public speaking." Obi-Wan was delighted that he had found something to give her a hard time about. 'It's not like she doesn't give me a hard time.' he thought.  
  
Sitya, obviously uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going stood up and climbed out of the tub. "So it's not like you don't have any fears, Mr. I-can-do-anything Jedi."  
  
"I don't have a big fears that's kept me from doing something. And I never said that I could do anything."  
  
"It's your attitude that make people think that you're full of yourself. And if that fear of heights hasn't stopped you from doing something, prove it."  
  
"How?" he cautiously asked.  
  
Sitya smirked "We'll start small."  
  
  
  
"Okay this one should be easy. All the beginners and little kids go on this one first."  
  
Obi-Wan was nervously looking over the stairs. "Are you sure?"  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes. "Come on look around you. Practically all the people going on this ride are little kids." He looked around and saw that she was right. "Besides, we're not even that high up. I could have made you go on that one." She pointed to one of the taller slides, one that went straight down. "Dawn took your friend Rick down that one. He didn't like it very much."  
  
"You're not going to make me go down that one are you?"  
  
Sitya smiled sweetly "Of course not."  
  
Somehow he wasn't comforted by her words. "How did you know about Rick not liking that slide. We haven't seen them since we spilt up."  
  
Sitya shrugged. "It's just a feeling."  
  
Obi-Wan filed this bit of information; it would be interesting to talk about this with his Master. He looked at Sitya. "Remember our deal. I do what you tell me to do, to prove that my fear of heights doesn't stop me from doing anything. And when I do prove it, I get to choose when and where you do your little dancing and singing number. And since I'm doing this in little steps, I'm going to get you to do yours in little steps as well."  
  
Sitya shrugged "Whatever."  
  
"You don't seem too concerned."  
  
"I'm not. Because I don't honestly think you're going to be able to do what I got planned."  
  
Obi-Wan bristled and vowed that he would do whatever was in store for him, just to see Sitya freak out in front of a bunch of people.  
  
They were in line so that they were at the two different slides at the same time.  
  
"Race you." they said at the same time and they nodded to each other.  
  
They light turned green and they shot off into the slide. The slide was just a bunch of twists and turns and Obi-Wan hardly felt like he was going down. Except for the odd sharp dips. The ride was over when he started to enjoy himself.  
  
Sitya and Obi-Wan made it to the bottom around the same time and settled on a tie.  
  
"That was fun! Let's do it again."  
  
Sitya nodded, but took him on a different slide and kept doing this for a good while, a different slide each time. But she kept her promise about not taking him on the straight down slide. After they had gone on all the rides, Sitya led him to a booth advertising for something called bungee jumping.  
  
"What's this?" he asked.  
  
"I think your ready to prove that no fear of heights thing."  
  
Sitya told the guy behind the desk that the two of them were going up. Obi-Wan became alarmed by the way she said 'up'.  
  
The instructor came and then led them up a bunch of stairs and ladders, until Obi-Wan saw that they were overlooking the wave pool. He slowed down when he saw Sitya ahead of him on stairs over the pool, which led to a blue tall structure.  
  
Sitya looked back and saw him slow to a stop. "You can always go back. I can get a refund if you chicken out."  
  
He steeled himself. "No that's alright. I'm fine." He continued forward all the while repeating in his head 'Don't look down, don't look down."  
  
They made it to the blue platform and Sitya said that she would go first.  
  
The instructor set her up with the harness and had her stand on the edge. "Are you ready?"  
  
Sitya nodded and the to Obi-Wan's amazement she just jumped, with absolutely no hesitation. He tentatively looked down and saw that the rope stretched so much that she was able to hit the water. Sitya continued to bob up and down and was finally lowered into a waiting boat. The harness was removed and brought back up. Obi-Wan gulped. It was his turn now.  
  
The instructor motioned him forward and started to put on the harness. He noticed Obi-Wan was stiff. "This your first time?" Obi-Wan nodded. "Don't worry. First time is always rough, but after this one you'll want to do it again." Obi-Wan just looked at him like he was crazy. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I'm scared of heights." He gulped and looked down. It looked like it was a really far way down. He then felt his Master's concern and his wondering why he would be doing this.  
  
"Then why in bloody hell are you up here!?" The instructor exclaimed. Obi-Wan just pointed down to the boat where Sitya was waiting. "Oh. I see. She made a bet with you, that you couldn't do it. Well I hope you do. 'Cause there's nothing better than proving you can do something when some one thought you couldn't."  
  
Obi-Wan had closed his eyes while the instructor was talking and placing the harness around his legs. Then he opened his eyes when he was finished and looked at him. The instructor gave him a thumbs up and before Obi-Wan realized it he was falling. It happened so fast. Before he knew the rope was slowing his fall, but not fast enough to get a mouth full of water. He got used to the rising and falling and was disappointed when the boatman was telling him to grab on to a stick so he could pull him in.  
  
Obi-Wan landed with a 'umpf' and lay there until the harness was off. Then he looked at Sitya who was glaring at him angrily.  
  
"Told you I could do it," he gloated.  
  
Sitya's expression only turned darker.  
  
  
  
Troi and Jack were having a lovely time at the food bar, eating fries and drinking pops. They had sat there for hours and just talked continuously about anything. Both of them liked each other very much and were disappointed when 1:00 approached and it was time for them to regroup with the others.  
  
Troi and Jack spotted the group at the lawn chairs minus Sitya and Obi-Wan. All of them had looks of concern on their faces, except for Qui- Gon he looked more angry.  
  
"What's wrong?" Jack whispered to Rick.  
  
"Sitya made Obi-Wan go off the bungee jump thing." He nodded in the direction of the blue structure, while taking in the detail that Jack was still holding Troi's hand.  
  
"Obi-Wan went off that thing?! But he's afraid of heights!"  
  
"We don't know if Sitya made Obi-Wan go off that thing. For all we know it was him who made her do it." Dawn put in to defend her friend, even though she didn't herself believe what she had said. She too saw Jack and Troi holding hands and raised an eyebrow at Troi. Troi saw the look and mouthed 'Later.' Even though at first Dawn was embarrassed about the bicep thing, she was happy for her friend and wanted details.  
  
Sitya and Obi-Wan soon showed up. Sitya with a seriously more moody expression than Obi-Wan, who looked absolutely thrilled about what he had just done.  
  
Obi-Wan ran up to Rick and Jack. "Did you see me do it? Oh man that was so wicked! Wouldn't do it again, but it was wicked!"  
  
Sitya went up and stood in front of Qui-Gon meeting his angry stare. He slowly started to speak, obviously trying to keep his anger under control. "Do not under any circumstances do something like that again. I will not have you enforce your reckless on my charges. Do I make myself clear?"  
  
Sitya nodded silently and crossed her arms as she glared at Obi-Wan as he described what the jump was like. 'Jerk.' She thought 'Why couldn't you just chicken out?'  
  
Obi-Wan had heard what Master Qui-Gon had said and wanted to explain what had really happened. Well in parts. "No Master, that's not how it happened at all." He hurriedly explained. "Sure it was her idea, but I agreed to it and she gave a lot of chances to back down. I really did it myself. She didn't force me at all."  
  
Qui-Gon didn't seem to totally believe him, but nodded anyway. He was still angry at Sitya and gruffly ordered them to the change rooms, so they could go shopping for clothes.  
  
  
  
Qui-Gon had dressed quickly, leaving the three young Jedi alone and allowing them to talk about anything they wanted to.  
  
Obi-Wan started first. "What's with that holding hands thing with Troi?"  
  
Jack played dumb. "What thing?"  
  
"Come on Jack." Rick shoved him. "You know we saw you holding hands. Plus I saw her holding onto your bicep for dear life."  
  
"What can I say? I like her." He grinned "A lot."  
  
Rick groaned and then pretended to be scared and ran around the changing room screaming "Ahhhhh. Attack of the love bug!"  
  
Obi-Wan laughed as he watched Jack chase Rick through the change room trying to make him shut up.  
  
Finally Jack caught him and pinned his arm behind his back and made him promise not to do it anymore.  
  
Jack then changed to subject. "So how are you and Dawn getting along?"  
  
"Well. I can't say that we're all mushy like you and Troi are." He ducked as Jack threatened him with a fist. "She's nice I guess, but she does have a mean streak in her. She made me go down that straight down slide."  
  
"How was that?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"Honestly, it was really fast and I would have screamed all the way down if I didn't have a mouth full of water." The other two laughed.  
  
"What about that bungee jump Obi-Wan? What really got you up there?" Jack asked.  
  
"It was a bet I made with Sitya. I prove that I could do something involving my fear and then she has to prove that she can get over her fear." Obi-Wan became happy again, thinking about how he was going to torture her.  
  
"What is her fear?" Rick asked.  
  
"I'm not going to say, but I'll make sure that you're there to see it. I think we should go out and meet Master Qui-Gon now."  
  
  
  
Immediately when the guys were out of earshot, Dawn began digging for information about Troi and Jack. She had a sudden misgiving thought. "You didn't threaten to kick him did you?"  
  
Troi laughed. "No. I only do that during or after a guys been a jerk. I think we really like each other." She became excited. "Do you think we'd make a good couple?"  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
Troi turned to Sitya "What do you think?"  
  
"Whatever." She was still moody.  
  
Dawn shrugged and continued asking Troi questions.  
  
Troi had said everything that she could remember about what had happened so far and then asked Dawn about Rick.  
  
Dawn shrugged "Fine. It's not like we're trying to kill each other." She looked over at Sitya, who was totally ignoring them. "Talked about family, life, stuff like that." She continued to look at Sitya and had finally had enough. "What's wrong with you?"  
  
"Nothing!"  
  
"Yes there is. Now tell us." Troi nodded her head in agreement.  
  
Sitya finally vented. "The stupid jerk jumped!!! He wasn't supposed to! Why couldn't he just chicken out and walk away?" She looked at the other two for an answer.  
  
Both of them shrugged.  
  
"Same here. Stupid, stupid jerk!!!"  
  
"What's wrong with him jumping? Did you actually think he'd just turn right back and say 'Gee sorry. I'm a chicken, I'll be heading back now.'?" Troi asked.  
  
Sitya didn't answer.  
  
"What's the big deal Sitya? So what he jumped."  
  
Sitya sighed and finally started to explain. "If he did that, I'd have to do my fear when he tells me too." She totally looked dejected.  
  
Dawn and Troi looked at each other and started laughing.  
  
"Come on Sitya, its no big deal." Troi tried to comfort her.  
  
"Yes it is. He's going to make me sing and dance in front of hundreds, no thousands of people and I'm just going to stand there or faint."  
  
"It's no big deal." Dawn repeated. "Come on. Let's go meet the guys so we can do some shopping."  
  
  
  
The three Jedi met Qui-Gon in the lobby and sat down to have a quick meeting.  
  
"Have you noticed any force sensitivity in the girls?" Qui-Gon asked.  
  
Jack was the first to nod. "Yeah. After our chat with you, we talked about stuff and sometimes it seemed that Troi was able to read my mind about some of the stuff we were discussing."  
  
Qui-Gon nodded and turned to Rick.  
  
"She sensed what was going to happen with the bungee jump. It's not much, but it's still there."  
  
"Well Troi explained that this type of force use happens all the time, so there's something else that could happen with Dawn about her being able to sense things." Qui-Gon stated and then waited for Obi-Wan to speak.  
  
"She told me about Rick not liking that straight down slide. She said it was just a feeling."  
  
"Alright. Watch them for more force use and maybe give them tips and encouragement's." He sighed. "Some more subtle than others."  
  
Everyone nodded to show their understanding.  
  
Soon after the girls walked out of their change rooms and towards them.  
  
"Let's go." Dawn said. "How about we start at Sport Chek and older people stores for Qui-Gon so we can get him over with."  
  
Troi looked at Qui-Gon. "It's not like we don't want you with us, Master Qui-Gon, but it looks like you're kind of tired. So we can do you first, drop your bags off in the van and then let you sit in Chapters and read a book if you like."  
  
"Thank you." Qui-Gon said. He was indeed tired and wished to sit down for some rest, looking after six teenagers was really tiring. Especially when he had to worry constantly about two of the teenagers lives.  
  
"What about our clothes?" Obi-Wan asked. "Where are we going to get ours?"  
  
"Bootlegger, Gap, stores like that." Troi replied. She received blank stares in return and shrugged. "Alright people let's move out."  
  
  
  
After two hours, the group had finally gotten all the necessary clothes for Qui-Gon and all were ready for something to eat.  
  
"I really hate shopping." Sitya grumbled as she lugged shopping bags over to two adjacent tables. "I swear that Master of yours is even picker than me when it comes to clothes." She directed this at Obi-Wan who was carrying the other half of the load.  
  
Obi-Wan ignored her comment and sat heavily on the chair. "My arms are killing me." He groaned.  
  
"Just you wait. We still have to do shopping for you and your friends. I am not carrying all your clothes around for you."  
  
"Not strong enough?" he taunted.  
  
"Shut up. Don't mess with a chick who's hungry."  
  
"What's a chick?"  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes and sat down. "Never mind."  
  
Obi-Wan looked around the food court. "What do you think they're getting?"  
  
The group had split up to get more things done at once. Sitya and Obi- Wan to find tables and the others would get the food.  
  
"Something good I hope."  
  
A lapse of silence fell over them and everything was quiet until the rest showed up laughing.  
  
"What's so funny?" the table guarders asked.  
  
Dawn explained between fits of laughter. "Rick was acting like an idiot, running around all over the place looking for you. He ran across that water bridge over there," she tilted her head to where the walkway was over the water. "He didn't know it was slippery and went sliding right across it and fell flat on his face on the other side."  
  
The group started laughing again and even Qui-Gon smiled.  
  
"Can I have my food now? I'm hungry." Sitya pleaded.  
  
"Sure." Troi handed over an Arby's meal to her and went about distributing the rest.  
  
Obi-Wan looked at his burger with a not quite so appetized look on his face. "What is this?"  
  
"Slaughtered cow." Sitya answered munching on hers.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Dead animal."  
  
Obi-Wan slowly put down his food and stared at it.  
  
"You've never had dead animal before?"  
  
"Well. . . yes, just not put into that context."  
  
"You better eat. Or otherwise that cow sacrificed its life for nothing." She looked over at him. "Here, it helps if you put this on." She opened a package and squirted sauce on his burger.  
  
"It says it's hot sauce. I can't eat hot stuff."  
  
"It's not that hot. Just try it."  
  
He took a bite and chewed. "It is good."  
  
"Give me some of that." Jack outstretched his arm to get some and put it on his own.  
  
The rest of the meal was just talk and Troi planning which stores they would hit next for the guy's clothes. "Hopefully it won't take as long as Qui-Gon's shopping and we can do other stuff before we leave and go for supper."  
  
Qui-Gon wasn't listening to her. His total attention focused on his food.  
  
Jack leaned forward and explained. "Don't worry, he's always like that when he has edible food. He had a Master who really made horrible meals, but always said it was good for you." He sat back and did an impression of the Master. "' How you get so big eating food of this kind?' "  
  
Qui-Gon's head snapped up when he heard that and glared at Jack. "It would not be wise to make fun of Master Yoda like that. It could travel to his ears and he will make you pay."  
  
"Come on Master Jinn. It's not like you've never made fun of him before." Qui-Gon lowered his head. "Besides. How's he gonna know, we're in a different galaxy anyway."  
  
"You'd be surprised what that Jedi Master can find out."  
  
Dawn got up and stated that she was finished and the rest followed suit. They put the garbage in the trashcan and went towards the other side of the mall, crossing the little bridge.  
  
Obi-Wan had an idea and mocked pushed Sitya towards the water.  
  
"You jerk!" she jumped back and then stepped forward to push him non- too gently. Obi-Wan stumbled back and hit Qui-Gon behind him, totally unaware of what was going on.  
  
Qui-Gon fell into the water and sat for a moment, thinking of what just happened. The rest of the group stood and gaped at the fallen Master.  
  
Obi-Wan and Sitya straightened "It wasn't me!" and quickly moved out of the way, in case the Jedi had something planned for them.  
  
Troi and Jack moved to help Qui-Gon out of the water and he stood on the bridge, dripping water everywhere.  
  
"I think it would be okay, if you just changed into another pair of clothes and put the wet ones in a separate bag." Troi tentatively said.  
  
Qui-Gon nodded his head in return, fixing his gaze on the troublemakers. "I will deal with you two later." He stated coldly.  
  
"The bathrooms are this way."  
  
  
  
The group had dropped off Qui-Gon's clothes, new and wet, in the van and were just walking out of Chapters, to start shopping for the guys.  
  
"I think our best bet is Bootlegger for starters." Dawn said.  
  
Troi nodded in agreement. "That could be our first stop. And if nothing works there, we can go back to Sport Chek or something."  
  
They headed down the mall and arrived at the store. Dawn and Troi started pulling out clothes for Rick and Jack, while the other two stood there.  
  
"What are you waiting for?" Sitya asked. "Go in and pick out clothes."  
  
"But Dawn and Troi are doing it for Rick and Jack."  
  
"I'm not gonna baby you. Especially after you got me in trouble with Master Qui-Gon."  
  
"I didn't do anything! It was more your fault than mine."  
  
"Was not!"  
  
"Can I help you?" a sales lady asked.  
  
Sitya turned and faced her. "Yeah. Dick head here needs some clothes." She could feel Obi-Wan glaring at her.  
  
The lady's face fell slightly and the quickly resumed that false sales smile again. "Alright then. This way."  
  
She guided Obi-Wan over to the jeans section with Sitya following behind.  
  
  
  
"No. I don't like that one." Troi stated.  
  
Jack looked hurt. "Why not?"  
  
"Well. . . it's too loud."  
  
Jack was wearing a brightly colored splotched Hawaiian shirt.  
  
"But I like it and I think it suits me." He grinned.  
  
"If you get that, I don't want to be seen in public with you."  
  
"Oh, come on. Don't you think it makes me look gorgeous?" he struck a pose.  
  
Troi laughed. "Alright, get the stupid thing. It's your image not mine."  
  
  
  
"I don't know Dawn. I think these pants make my butt look big." Rick twisted around in front of the mirror and then glanced at Dawn. "What do you think?"  
  
Dawn looked up from the clothes she was looking at. "I am not going to look at your butt."  
  
"But I need a professional opinion."  
  
Dawn looked around and spotted a young sales lady. "Excuse me." The sales lady walked over. "My friend here needs a professional opinion on if these pants make his butt look big."  
  
Rick looked at her in horror and then at the sales lady.  
  
The young woman scanned him with a critical eye for a moment. "No. I think everything looks exactly as it should." She grinned.  
  
Dawn nodded her thanks and turned to a beet red Rick. "What? You said you needed a professional opinion."  
  
Rick said nothing and headed back into the change room.  
  
  
  
"Don't you think that's enough shopping?" Dawn asked.  
  
Troi turned around from the front of the group. "Why?"  
  
"Because my bloody arms are going to fall off!" Sitya bit out. She was carrying the majority of the bags, by choice. Obi-Wan had offered to help but Sitya said no, saying she could handle it herself.  
  
"So you want to go back and see if Qui-Gon's not mad at you anymore? It's only been two hours since he fell in that water and I'm sure that's still fresh in his mind."  
  
Sitya straightened. "I'm sure I can handle at least another hour." Truthfully she didn't want to see Qui-Gon or even thinking about what he was going to do to her. "Besides, I don't think we've checked out Thrifty's yet."  
  
  
  
It was 7:30 and Troi and Jack were walking over to Chapters to pick up Qui-Gon. The rest had gone out to the van to drop off clothes and wait for them there.  
  
They found Qui-Gon sitting in StarBucks, reading a book on Ancient Egypt and sipping from a cup.  
  
"Hi Master Qui-Gon." Troi said brightly. She sat down in the last chair across from him. "Book interesting?"  
  
Qui-Gon nodded. "Very. To think these people built those pyramids of that size with no repulsor lifts." He sipped at his cup again.  
  
"Master, what are you drinking?"  
  
"Hot chocolate Rick and it's really good." He looked at the overly large cup. "I had a small one first and then the second got bigger. I think the third was when I bought this size. This is my fifth."  
  
"You drank all that?"  
  
Qui-Gon continued. "Do you have any of this at your house?"  
  
Troi nodded dumbly. "I think so."  
  
"Good. I think I might have one when I get there." He stood up from the table. "Did you have success shopping?"  
  
Rick nodded his head. "Oh yeah. You should check out this shirt I got. It's really cool."  
  
"It's really bright and you'll go blind if you look directly at it." Troi put in.  
  
They quickly made their way out the mall and to the van. Dawn sitting in the drivers seat with Sitya, Rick and Obi-Wan in the back.  
  
Qui-Gon smiled in amusement. 'So finally something to control Sitya with. Maybe I'll hang it over her head for awhile.' Troi and Jack climbed in the middle.  
  
"What's for supper?"  
  
Dawn looked over at him while pulling out of the parking lot. "Sawmill."  
  
Troi groaned in the back.  
  
"Troi you can have other things there beside seafood. You can have shepherds pie or something."  
  
"I still have to look at the stuff while you eat it."  
  
"Suck it up."  
  
  
  
Sitya laughed at Obi-Wan. "No no no. You're supposed to do it this way." She took the crackers from him and showed him how to snap the crab's legs and pulled out a long string of meat, then placed it in the hot butter.  
  
Obi-Wan looked awed. "How did you do that?"  
  
"Practice." She turned back to her own legs.  
  
Jack noticed that Troi was ill looking. "Does seafood really bother you that much?"  
  
She nodded weakly.  
  
"I don't get why. I mean my fish and chips are just fine."  
  
Troi just looked at him and then focused on her clubhouse sandwich.  
  
Dawn picked at her steak, and kept glancing at Rick.  
  
He finally had enough and asked what the pBoblem was.  
  
She was silent for a moment then mumbled. "I'm sorry about the pants thing today."  
  
"Hey. No pBoblem."  
  
Dawn couldn't believe how easily he shrugged it off. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah sure. I mean I had a hot girl tell me I had a nice butt."  
  
Dawn rolled her eyes. "You have got to stop talking like earth guys. It's freaky."  
  
Jack looked over at him. "You had some hot chick check you out?"  
  
It was Troi's turn to roll her eyes.  
  
Qui-Gon sat back in his chair and watched the group of young people. This was going rather well. He looked over at his apprentice beside him and saw Sitya cracking his crabs legs for him, mumbling something about 'incompetent men.' No harmful sting in those words, just friendly banter. 'Good, maybe we're getting somewhere.'  
  
Qui-Gon focused his attention back on the conversation surrounding him.  
  
"She didn't say he had a nice butt, just that everything looked fine."  
  
"Really?" Jack looked over at Rick.  
  
Rick nodded.  
  
"Well that's even better man! She thinks you've got more than a nice butt!"  
  
There was a little red showing on Rick's cheeks.  
  
Qui-Gon could not understand the mentality of the three Jedi. Ever since they had arrived on Earth, they had completely changed from properly trained Jedi to just, young men.  
  
"You're supposed to hit the back of the bottle, so the ketchup will come out." Sitya instructed Obi-Wan.  
  
He complied and held the bottle so he could smack it with his palm. He gave a few tentative pats, but soon became frustrated and smacked the bottle hard. Resulting with ketchup on his fries. He grunted in victory and heard Sitya giggling.  
  
"I definitely had no part in that!"  
  
Obi-Wan had no idea what she was talking about and looked to the others for clarification. All of them were staring at Qui-Gon next to him.  
  
He glanced over and saw his Master staring down at his new shirt. And a bright red streak across it. 'Oh man. I'm really in for it now.' He thought.  
  
'You bet you are.' he heard in his head. Qui-Gon was giving him a hard stare.  
  
Troi wisely got up and asked for the check.  
  
  
  
Troi lazily got out of bed and blearily looked at her clock, 10:00 am. Troi groaned, "I can still sleep for another two hours," she mumbled. But then there were their guests and all were pBobably up already. They pBobably thought she was dead to the world and always slept in this late. 'Then again I do and even later than this.'  
  
Troi showered and got dressed, then walked down to the kitchen and saw Jack was the only one there.  
  
"Morning sleeping beauty."  
  
Troi grunted and went to get a bowl of cereal.  
  
"How long have you been up?" she asked.  
  
"About an hour."  
  
Troi looked at him in surprise. "Why did you get up so early? It's the weekend."  
  
Jack laughed. "Trust me, that is sleeping in. At the Jedi Temple everyone gets up at the crack of dawn." He looked at her munching on her cereal. "I take it, you're not a morning person."  
  
She just shook her head. "Where are the others?"  
  
"Dawn is up in her room doing some sort of fashion thing. I think Rick went with her. Qui-Gon, I believe is in the library. He was here about half an hour ago, explaining where Sitya and Obi-Wan are."  
  
"Where are they?"  
  
"Well, Qui-Gon decided on punishments for them. He said that they were woken up at 5:00 in the morning, led out to the forest, handcuffed together and then he left them there to find their way back."  
  
"Isn't he afraid they might get hurt?"  
  
"Nah. The only real danger that is out there is themselves." He paused. "What are you going to be doing?"  
  
"Well since Sitya isn't here nothing. All three of us were supposed to study for a short quiz in English. Just a practice bit from an old diploma. So I guess I might go horseback riding. I haven't done that for a long time. Do you want to come?"  
  
"Sure." He said quickly. "But I think you might have to help me. I've never ridden a horse before."  
  
"Duh. You're not from around here."  
  
  
  
"Would you stop hovering like that!"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Like that!" Dawn turned "You keep sticking your nose in my work."  
  
"Sorry. I just wanted to see how you made clothes."  
  
"Doesn't mean you have to get up close and personal."  
  
"How else am I supposed to learn?"  
  
Dawn stalked up to him. "If you want to get that close, you have to help."  
  
Rick nodded enthusiastically. "Sure. Tell me what to do."  
  
She nodded towards a low stool. "Stand on it." She then brought over the half-finished skirt. "Now put this on."  
  
"No way!"  
  
"You said you wanted to help."  
  
"Not that way!"  
  
"Oh, come on. I just need it on you so I can make a few adjustments. No one's going to see."  
  
Rick looked at the skirt doubtfully.  
  
"Either put it on or get out."  
  
"Alright, alright." He gingerly stepped into the thing, with his pants on and looked down. "Do you think this blue goes with my eyes?" he twirled for effect.  
  
Dawn couldn't help laughing. "Stop it. I have to finish this."  
  
She moved around and started putting pin in various locations. She finished and surveyed her work. "I think, I may need some more on this side." She talked to herself. Going over to a drawer, she started picking out more pins.  
  
"Have you seen Qui-Gon?" a voice demanded.  
  
Dawn sighed and turned to the door. Sitya and Obi-Wan stood in the room, both streaked with dirt and sweat and were still handcuffed together. "No Sitya. I don't know where he is."  
  
Sitya hrpmfed and started walking out the door, but almost fell when Obi-Wan didn't move with her. "What the…?"  
  
Obi-Wan was staring at Rick. "Why are you wearing a skirt?'  
  
Rick looked down and became uncomfortable. "I'm umm… helping Dawn with her homework." His head snapped up and glared at Obi-Wan. "It's not like you've never worn a dress before."  
  
Sitya started sniggering. "You wore a dress?!"  
  
He looked over at his handcuffed partner. "It was a matter of life and death."  
  
She sniggered more. "What? You were going to go mad, unless you got in touch with your feminine side?"  
  
"No. I had to dress up as a girl to go to this party and keep an eye on the future queen of a planet. Good thing I did too, because I helped save her."  
  
"That's not everything." Rick put in. "After all that was over and the bad guys were caught, Obi-Wan had to wear that dress for another day." He laughed. "A whole bunch of guys were hitting on him."  
  
Obi-Wan blushed. "Nothing happened!"  
  
"Oh, and then there was the part when the Council started to question Master Qui-Gon about having under-aged girls in his quarters." Rick laughed harder. "Someone caught Master Jinn unzipping a girls dress, but it turned out to be just Obi-Wan."  
  
The three collapsed laughing, while Obi-Wan stood and glared at all of them.  
  
"I'm going to find Master Qui-Gon." He tugged on Sitya's arm, who was on the floor holding her stomach with her free hand. "Come on."  
  
Sitya slowly got herself under control and started walking out the door. "See you around."  
  
Dawn turned to Rick and started pinning the dress again. She decided it was finished and instructed Rick to take it off.  
  
Rick slowly stepped out of the skirt, taking care not to tear it and handed it over to Dawn.  
  
Dawn looked at the blue material in her hands. "Maybe I should give it to Obi-Wan, just for him to play dress up or something."  
  
Rick laughed in return.  
  
  
  
Troi rode beside Jack on her black mare, while he rode on a chestnut colored one. She glanced over at him and commented. "You know, you're good for someone who's never done this before."  
  
Jack shrugged. "Maybe I'm just good with animals or maybe it's the teacher." He looked over at her.  
  
Troi blushed and looked away.  
  
They continued on in silence and listened to the birds chirping. It was a beautiful afternoon, and a perfect day for horseback riding.  
  
A building surrounded by a fence came into view and Jack questioned what it was.  
  
"Just a bird sanctuary. A little place the birds can go to for food or shelter, things like that."  
  
They stopped at the fence and got off the horses.  
  
"Dawn, Sitya and I come out here at least once a month to stock up the supplies, clean it out and fix whatever needs to be fixed. Do you want to see?"  
  
Jack nodded and Troi walked over to the fence door and punched in a combination on the access panel. The door swung open and she led him into a field surrounding the building and then started towards the building itself.  
  
Inside birds were flying everywhere overhead dipping and diving. It was amazing that there were no collisions in midair.  
  
Troi started to talk about some of the birds that had stayed there. "We had a Blue Heron once who came and stayed periodically. That was a big bird."  
  
She pointed to a few places in the building. "Most of the birds in here are night animals. Owls and such." She looked around the building for a moment and then headed to a corner, where a gray colored bird rested.  
  
"This is Chirp, a Great Horned owl." The bird opened its eyes when it heard it's name and cooed when it saw Troi. She reached out and gently stroked its neck. "We've had him for about three years. I found him in the forest and saw that its wing was broken. I fixed him up and he's been with us ever since."  
  
She took Jack's hand and started rubbing Chirp with it. Chirp wasn't as trusting and moved over.  
  
Jack shrugged. "I guess I'm not that good with animals."  
  
Troi toured him around the building, pointing out various birds and then back out into the sun.  
  
Both squinted their eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the light.  
  
Jack reached over and took Troi's hand in his. They walked across the field towards the fence door.  
  
"This world is really beautiful." He looked over at Troi, meaning something far larger than what was just spoken.  
  
Troi, not catching on to his comment, just nodded.  
  
He started laughing.  
  
Troi looked over at him. "What's so funny?"  
  
"You don't listen to hidden messages do you?" a smile playing across his lips.  
  
Confused, Troi asked. "What messages?"  
  
Jack looked at her harder and repeated what he had said before.  
  
Still Troi was in the dark. 'What is he talking about?' she thought 'Maybe he's sniffed too many bird droppings.'  
  
Jack saw the blank look on her face and pulled her closer, placing his hands on her waist. "This world is very beautiful." He emphasized the last word.  
  
Troi's eyebrows lifted sharply. "Oh! You mean…" her voice trailed off and she realized how close they were.  
  
A smile tugged on Jack lips as he leaned over and kissed her.  
  
It only lasted for a moment and Jack lifted his head and looked into Troi's eyes.  
  
Troi was at a total loss of what to say, so she said the first thing that popped into her head. "That was nice."  
  
"Is that a typical Earth girl response."  
  
Troi blushed. "I don't know. It just sort of came out."  
  
"Well, I'll take it was a compliment."  
  
They started to walk back towards the fence and waiting horses.  
  
  
  
"The point of this game is to take this ball," Dawn lifted up a bowling ball, "roll it down this alley and knock down as many of those pins as you can."  
  
"What if you knock down all of them?" Rick asked.  
  
"That's good and you get lots of points."  
  
"How do you get points?" this came from Qui-Gon.  
  
"By hitting and knocking over the pins." Dawn was slowly loosing her patience. This was the third time she had tried to explain the game of bowling. And the two Jedi were still out to lunch.  
  
Dawn had convinced Rick to try the game saying they should do something and she had talked Qui-Gon into coming as well, because he had been in the library all day reading. Dawn had thought it a good idea for him to get some exercise.  
  
'I'm just about ready to give up' she thought.  
  
"Oh, I think I get it. You get three tries to roll the ball and knock down all the pins. The more pins down, the more points you get. And the more points you have makes you the winner."  
  
Dawn gave a sigh of relief. "Yes. But there are more turns than just the three. Three turns are as much as you get for one try, and then it's the other person's turn. After their turn you can go again, but with all the pins standing." She hoped she didn't get any blank stares in return.  
  
She was rewarded when both Jedi stated, "I get it."  
  
"Alright, I'll go first." She picked up a ball and walked up to the alley.  
  
She got a spare and said that it would be Rick's turn.  
  
Rick went and got all three balls in the gutter. Walking back he mumbled something about 'stupid earth games.'  
  
Qui-Gon picked up a ball and stood facing the pins. He rolled the ball right down the middle, with his face fixed on the pins. All pins fell on the first ball.  
  
Rick jumped to his feet. "That's not fair!"  
  
Dawn was startled and ran her pencil across the score sheet. "What do you mean?"  
  
"He used the Force!"  
  
Qui-Gon turned a little pink. "No I didn't." he said meekly.  
  
"Yes you did. I felt it."  
  
Qui-Gon threw up his hands. "Alright I did. But both of you can too."  
  
"But that's cheating!"  
  
Dawn held up her hands. "What do you mean? I can do it too?"  
  
Qui-Gon relaxed into his teacher mode and explained quietly. "You have Force abilities, all of you girls do and I think there is a lot of potential in all of you to become powerful Jedi."  
  
Dawn became interested. "Really?"  
  
Qui-Gon nodded, "Yes. Try it."  
  
She spent the next three hours trying to move the ball along the alley. Her instructor was now Rick, since Qui-Gon left two hours earlier to go back to the library.  
  
"I give up!" she said exasperated.  
  
"Just one more." Rick pleaded.  
  
Dawn shrugged and picked up another ball and rolled it slowly down the alley. She concentrated really hard on the moving ball and thought 'Move you stupid thing!'  
  
The bowling ball shot off and smashed into the wall, leaving a gaping hole.  
  
"Oops."  
  
Rick stared at the hole. "Yes well, that was good, for the first time. Maybe we should work on control next."  
  
  
  
He watched her stand in a closed off area, surrounded by objects, small, large, high and low. Moving slowly, but steadily, she started to make her way to the other side of the course. Weapons drawn and eyes analyzing every corner and shadow.  
  
'What is she looking for?'  
  
A large explosion came through one of the many blocks, it was actually something punching through the block, and it nearly threw Sitya off her feet. She jumped back, paused for a second and then stepped back in front of the newly made hole. She started firing.  
  
Obi-Wan saw a large sort of droid step around the smashed block. It started to rapidly advance on Sitya.  
  
Sitya holstered her guns and started retreating by a series of back flips that brought her to a low block. She jumped up on top of it and started to make her way higher up by other blocks.  
  
She brought her guns to bear again and started surveying for the droid again.  
  
It struck from behind, shaking the large block Sitya was standing on and made her loose her balance. She back flipped and landed on a block behind the droid, where she regained her balance and started firing at the droid's back.  
  
The thing turned around and charged at Sitya's perch. She jumped off, landing on her feet on the ground and started running until they were 50 yards apart.  
  
Getting rid of her spent cartridges, she reloaded her gun and started running back towards the machine, shooting the whole way. The machine took off towards her at the same time and when it seemed that they were going to run into each other, Sitya dropped and slid on her back underneath the machine. Turning on her back, towards the confused, but advancing droid, she resumed firing.  
  
As the droid got closer it brandished a new weapon, saws where there should have been hands.  
  
Abandoning her weapons when the droid and the saws got too close to her and her neck, she raised her hands to intercept them.  
  
It was a struggle for both of them, but finally Sitya won. She shifted her body, so that one of the saws where pointed to the other arm of the machine. It sliced through the appendage and Sitya scrambled out from underneath the droid. The droid was off balance with nothing holding up it's other arm and it drilled into the ground, leaving it momentarily vulnerable.  
  
Sitya quickly made her way up on top of the machine and started hammering at its back with the butt of her gun. Getting fed up and impatient, Sitya leaned back and opened fire at it, close range. She threw aside her gun and started prying open a section of the droids armor. Once open she reached in and pulled out a fist full of wires.  
  
The machine slowly quieted down and then lay motionless. Looking over, Sitya saw Obi-Wan and started to make her way towards him.  
  
"Enjoy the show?" she sauntered up to look at him.  
  
"I thought you said you were coming out to have fun." He stated.  
  
Sitya laughed, "That was fun!" looking down at her clothes, she stated wryly. "Dirty, hurting fun, but nonetheless, brilliant fun." Her outfit was covered in dirt and torn in a few places. She also had scratches here and there, but didn't seem too concerned at the moment.  
  
"Speaking of which, you stink."  
  
"Well sorry! It's not like you've never smelt bad before."  
  
"I've never smelt bad in my life."  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes. "Where were you this morning? You smelt awful and I was stuck with you for five hours."  
  
"You stunk pretty bad too." Obi-Wan was about to continue the argument, but stopped when he saw the machine move towards them. "Umm… Sitya." His voice held a hint of nervousness.  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes and turned to where she could hear the droid coming. "Stop!" It did just before it pounced on them.  
  
Walking up to the machine, she punched a bottom and a screen opened up, revealing the words 'KILL SITYA BASTS'.  
  
Seeing this she sighed and closed the screen. Turning around she faced Obi-Wan. "Well then. I guess I'll put this thing back in the shed and then go have a shower, to get rid of this stench that offends you so much."  
  
  
  
Dawn, Sitya and Troi were sitting in the living room, fire blazing trying to get some last bit of studying in before they went to bed. Soon all were incredibly bored of doing schoolwork and they began to discuss what each had done during the day.  
  
Troi blushed slightly when she saw she was to go first. "Well… I took Jack for a horse back ride and to the bird sanctuary." She stopped not wanting to say anything more.  
  
"Don't tell us that was it." Dawn said.  
  
"Umm… right." She played with her hair, not wanting to meet any of her friend's gazes. "He kissed me." She blurted.  
  
Both girls didn't look surprised.  
  
"Please don't tell me, we're going to have to put up with you two being all lovey dovey together." Sitya squirmed.  
  
Dawn looked happy. "That's great! Just don't kick him, like you did to Bob."  
  
Troi laughed. "I won't. As long as he's behaving himself, but as soon as he crosses the line 'smack!'" she lifted her hand and slapped the air. "What did you do?" she asked Dawn.  
  
"Well, I finished my blue skirt. I had Rick put it on so I could put some final touches on it. Sitya and Obi-Wan walked in, saw it and then we found out that Obi-Wan actually wore a dress in public."  
  
"You're kidding!"  
  
Dawn shook her head, no. "It was like a life or death thing, or so he said. After that, I just sort of fiddled around with stuff, got tired with that and went bowling with Rick and Master Qui-Gon. It took a long time for them to catch on, and Rick caught Master Jinn cheating with the Force. That set off a whole other thing with Rick teaching me how to use the Force."  
  
Sitya looked interested. "How did that go?"  
  
"At first not so well. I couldn't do anything with that bowling ball. Then before I know it, the ball's embedded in the wall." She looked pleased with herself. "Rick says I need to learn more control. But I put the ball in the wall! What did you do Sitya?"  
  
"First, I got stuck out in the woods for like five hours, handcuffed to the person I most despise. Wandering around in there totally lost, with him swearing he knows where he's going. Anyway we got back here met you Dawn and then went and found Master Qui-Gon. He actually looked pleased with himself, like he thought he had accomplished something." Sitya became angry. "I swear, all Jedi are stuck up and full of themselves. No offence Troi."  
  
"None taken."  
  
"Then after all that, I went out to the obstacle course and played with Simon. He got shot up pretty good."  
  
"Bryce is going to kill you! He's been working on that thing for months."  
  
"He had it programmed to kill me. Besides I just do the testing and he does the building. I'm supposed to do that sort of thing, finding flaws and such."  
  
Troi snorted. "I don't think Bryce is going to buy that."  
  
"It's the truth."  
  
The rest of the evening was spent talking about anything and what would happen with school tomorrow and if their guests would be joining them. Finally, late into the night, Qui-Gon came in and told them it was time to get some sleep.  
  
  
  
It was 7:00 in the morning and Dawn hurried around in her room trying to get ready for school. 'Why is Monday always the most frantic?" she left her room to make her way downstairs and see if the others were up. Closing the door and racing to the main stairs, she stopped on the edge. "Shot!" She turned around and raced back into her room and then the bathroom. "Where's the toothpaste?" she said out loud.  
  
  
  
Troi looked at the clock 7:15, 'All still good,' she thought. She had plenty of time to have a shower, get dressed and put makeup on. '15 more minutes."  
  
  
  
Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Sitya were sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast. It was another one of Qui-Gon's bright ideas to get them to like each other, or at least be civil. The Master had woken up the pair at 5:00, again. Insisting that they spend time together until they could sit through at least one hour, without fighting. It hadn't worked so far.  
  
First, since Sitya always had a swim in the morning decided to go to the pool. So she led the Master and apprentice to the pool to show them what it looked like and where to change. Obi-Wan had looked at the water and stated that he knew it was cold without even touching it. Sitya didn't feel like fighting, so she pushed him into the water. That had set off another tide of events, Qui-Gon had ordered her to go to the edge of the pool and help Obi-Wan out. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in as well. After half an hour of them dunking each other underwater Qui-Gon had had enough and got them to climb out of the pool and change.  
  
Qui-Gon looked over at them now. 'Well at least the little pool episode may have tired them out.' He looked at the clock, "Where are the others?"  
  
Sitya looked at the clock too and saw it was 8:00. "Dawn's on her way down here now and Troi would be frantically looking for her mascara and lip gloss, which would be in the bar, where it always is. Don't ask me why."  
  
Rick and Jack walked in and sat down at the table and stared at it. Sitya looked at them, "What did you do? And would you like some coffee or cereal?"  
  
The two nodded and then looked over at Sitya as she went to get the guys something to eat and drink.  
  
"Why don't you get me something too?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"Because you don't look half dead."  
  
She brought over some coffee and a cereal box along with milk. "So what did you guys do?"  
  
"We stayed up pretty late playing that Nintendo 64 thing." Jack mumbled.  
  
Rick joined in. "Yeah that thing's addictive."  
  
"But we got the top score on the game that has all those racer cars."  
  
Dawn burst into the room, said 'hello' and ran back out.  
  
"What was that?" Rick asked.  
  
"She's looking for her keys. Don't worry, this always happens on a Monday. After a while it gets kind of fun, 'cause you know where everything is and people are freaky out, because they can't find anything."  
  
"Has anyone seen my mascara and lip gloss?"  
  
"It's in the bar, right next to the wine rack."  
  
"Thanks." They heard retreating footsteps.  
  
Sitya looked at the staring Jedi, "You get used to it. Every week starts out like this."  
  
  
  
The girls were ready to go and glared at the young Jedi. It wasn't fair that they had to go to school and they got to stay here and do whatever they wanted to.  
  
Rick seemed to catch on to this as well. "Have fun. I'll be here playing that 64 game."  
  
Jack went to follow him. "Me too."  
  
"Hold a minute." Qui-Gon said from behind. "You three are going with them."  
  
"What!"  
  
"I think that it would be a considerable lesson in the ways Earth teach their young and I think it would be a more valuable experience then you sitting and staring at a television."  
  
"But…"  
  
"No buts. All of you are going. I will stay here and wait for the Councils message of the mission and I will spend time in the library to further my own knowledge about this planet."  
  
  
  
The girls had a wide variety of vehicles to take, for themselves and ones they shared. It was decided, by the girls, that they would each take their own to school. Troi would take her rather new, gray Jeep. Dawn would take her yellow Bug and Sitya would take her light blue Dakota Sport. They were just about the only vehicles they had that would reasonably fit in at school. Most of their vehicles were rather highly expensive and had been modified rather illegally to improve performance. None of the girls wanted to take the chance of diving one of those cars to school, although they protected from breaking and entering, among other things.  
  
All three vehicles were filled with conversations on the way to the school, either amiable or just plain quarreling. For some the ride was too short and others it didn't end fast enough.  
  
"I hate to sound mean or something, but that building really does look a bit like a prison." Jack stared at the structure in front of him.  
  
The rest of the Jedi tended to agree.  
  
The girls shrugged. "It's not that bad."  
  
They made their way inside and towards the girl's lockers on the west side of the school. They were told that there were 15 minutes until class and that the girls wanted to drop their books off or lack off. Troi had choir and all she needed to do was sing, Dawn had fashions and Sitya had Social. Dawn's and Sitya's classes were relatively close together on the east side of the school. They left Troi and Jack at the choir room since it was almost right across from the lockers.  
  
"See you later."  
  
The halls were getting clustered with more kids and becoming more noisy. The group continued on to the farthest they could go east and then turned south. They came to a three way intersect point with another hall leading again to the east, Dawn and Rick went down the new hallway, while Sitya and Obi-Wan continued down the south corridor.  
  
  
  
The bell rang and students started pouring into the stadium-seated room. A short kind of woman walked in and started to take attendance. After taking Troi's name, she continued down the list and Troi turned to question Jack. "How are you going to get through the school day without people asking you questions?"  
  
He smiled. "An old Jedi mind trick."  
  
Mrs. Green finished the list and started the choir lesson. "Alright people, I want everyone up on stage in the order we had last class and we'll start with 'Dancing in the Street.'"  
  
Troi along with rest of the class got up and moved to the stage at the front of the room. Jack didn't see anything else to do, so he got up as well and moved with Troi to the front and climbed up onto the stage.  
  
Everyone was assembled and Mrs. Green stood frowning up in the stands, where the students had just moved to. "What are you doing there? Are you even in this class?"  
  
Jack saw she was looking at him. "I am in this class and I am where I am supposed to be."  
  
"You are in this class and you are where you are supposed to be." Mrs. Green repeated.  
  
Troi looked at her in surprise. Mrs. Green actually believed him and was continuing with the song. "How did you do that?"  
  
Jack smiled. "Old Jedi mind trick."  
  
Jack thought the class was fun and soon learned the words to the song. The only pBoblem he had was with the actions that went with it. He kept going left, when the class went right and vice versa.  
  
Mrs. Green saw this and got him to come down to the floor with her. "Alright I think I know what your pBoblem is. You're too self-conscience. Loosen up a bit." She grabbed his arms and flapped them around. The class laughed in return. "C'mon you gotta do this." She proceeded to do a dance that was considered anything but a dance. Making a total fool of herself but not caring. Mrs. Green finished and turned to Jack. "Your turn."  
  
Jack slowly walked up to where the teacher was standing and turned to face the group of students and Troi, who gave him a thumbs up. "Could I have some music then?" he asked.  
  
Instead Mrs. Green got the rest of the class to sing 'Dancing in the Street', and Jack started dancing to that. Of course, not wanting to look like a total idiot by landing on his face, he used the Force to help him spin and jump. He even did some moves that may have been considered impossible. He finished, breathing hard, when the song was over and sat back down next to Troi.  
  
Troi leaned over, "Nice work."  
  
Jack smiled, "Just think of it as a Jedi training technique. One that you might have to do someone day."  
  
Mrs. Green stood in front of the class again, applauding Jack for his outstanding performance and moved on to the next song.  
  
  
  
"What smells in here?"  
  
Dawn rolled her eyes, "It's called food and this is were food is cooked."  
  
"Why would you have a fashions class in a cooking room?"  
  
"Why not?" Dawn went to the back of the room to sit down at a table and Rick followed. On one side of the room were tables, where students were coming in and sitting down. On the other were stoves and cupboards, where dishes and utensils were stored.  
  
An elder woman walked in and Dawn told him that she was known as Mrs. Kert. The teacher asked for the students to had in their fashions homework, Dawn left to do that and left Rick sitting at the table. When all the projects had been handed in and the students were again seated they where told that it would be a free period, which was followed by a series of 'yahoos!' Mrs. Kert explained that since it was near the end of the semester and no time to start anything new they could do what they pleased, but had to stay in the room.  
  
The class immediately began to sort into groups of friends and Dawn and Rick sat at their table thinking of something to say.  
  
"I guess we could play 'SOS'." Dawn suggested.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"It's just a game that passes the time." She ripped out a piece of paper from her binder, "Here I'll show you how to play."  
  
  
  
Sitya led the way to her Social class, easily dodging the people in the hallway and avoiding being bumped by those running around. Obi-Wan was not so fortunate and ended up colliding with a few students who pushed him back none too gently. There was especially one overly large boy teenager who didn't take to kindly when Obi-Wan bumped into him, who was trying to avoid a group of giggling girls, who weren't watching where they were going.  
  
"Watch it buddy." The tall teenager said. He sneered to make it clear that he considered Obi-Wan anything but friend. 'More like food,' Obi-Wan thought.  
  
"I'm very sorry." He said and tried to step around him. The guy stuck a beefy arm out, stopping Obi-Wan from going anywhere.  
  
"Oh, you're very sorry." He whined, he turned to a group of other boys standing on the other side of the hallway and they laughed moving in towards Obi-Wan.  
  
"Yes, I said I was sorry, as in I didn't mean it and I would like to go to class."  
  
The boy screwed up his face in distaste. "What do you want to go to class for?"  
  
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, 'where was Sitya?' he thought. "To learn. Something that I presume you are incapable of, since you stand in the middle of the hallway and bully other people."  
  
The group of people surrounding him stopped laughing and even more people moved in to see what would happen. The large teenager stepped back and thought for moment. "Hey! You just insulted my intelligence!"  
  
Obi-Wan knew he should remain quiet, but he couldn't resist, "As far as I can tell, you are very limited on your range of intelligence and I doubt there is any more room in that head of yours to learn anything more."  
  
The teenager leaped forward to punch Obi-Wan in the stomach, who saw it coming and deftly moved aside and avoided the attack. He was not so lucky when he saw the beefy boy's friends moving in, and saw that they were getting ready to join the fray.  
  
"Back off Parker!" someone demanded outside the circle of students. Obi-Wan saw Sitya moving through the crowd and then came to stand beside him.  
  
"You've got no business here Basts. So move out of the way."  
  
"And why would I move out of the way, to let you beat up a guy? In fact why would I let you and your buddies team up against him. 5 to 1? That doesn't seem very fair to me."  
  
"That kid insulted my intelligence! He needs to be taught a lesson."  
  
"What intelligence?" Sitya snottily replied. The boy sucked in a breath and his friends looked slack jawed. The others behind the boy's friends where secretly smiling and hoping that Parker would also be taught a lesson. "As far as I've seen, you haven't proven anything that shows that you have intelligence. Go to class and learn something and then we'll discuss if there is some intelligence in that big head of yours."  
  
Parker moved closer and raised a fist in Sitya's direction. Sitya stepped up to meet him and quietly said. "I would rethink that move Parker. As I seem to recall, the last time you did something like this, you ended up losing two of your baby front teeth. You never thanked me for my dentistry work." She coolly looked him in the face, waiting for his reaction.  
  
"Come on guys, let's go somewhere else." Parker and company left the hallway and the rest of the gathered group dispersed as well. Conversations starting up again, this time about Parker being put in his place.  
  
Sitya looked at Obi-Wan, who was surprised to see concern on her face. "Are you alright?" she asked.  
  
Obi-Wan nodded. "Just had to dodge one fist that's all. You came right before the rest of the group pounced on me. Where were you?"  
  
"I went ahead to my class, I thought you were right behind me, so when I go to class and saw that you weren't there I turned around and came back." She looked over at him. "You do know how to pick the tough crowds don't you?"  
  
Obi-Wan decided to tease. "Does that include you?"  
  
Sitya looked hurt. "I am not tough!"  
  
"Oh, alright then." They continued on in silence. "What about a pain in the ass?" He was rewarded when he saw the surprised look on her face.  
  
"Where did you hear that?"  
  
"I over heard your conversation with Dawn about me being a pain in the ass." Sitya almost looked embarrassed. "I think that's another neat Earth phrase. I think I could say it in the Jedi Temple and no one would know what I meant by it."  
  
They walked into Sitya's Social class, just as the first bell rang. And Obi-Wan saw they were the only one's there so far.  
  
"Morning Mr. Potk." Sitya directed to a cheerful looking man, sitting behind a computer.  
  
"Good morning Sitya. How was your weekend?"  
  
Sitya shrugged. "A little bit hectic. Things were just dropping right out of the sky." She said with a straight face.  
  
  
  
Dawn, Troi, Rick and Jack met at the girl's locker after first block ended and the two guys started talking about this different school.  
  
"I learned how to play this 'SOS' game, because there was nothing to do in that class." He grinned. "I beat Dawn every single time."  
  
Dawn looked up from her locker, where she was getting the necessary books. "You cheated."  
  
"Did not." He turned to Jack and asked what he had done, before Dawn could say anything else.  
  
"I got to perform. Mrs. Green saw that I wasn't singing a lot, so she made me go in front of the class and dance to the song the choir was singing." He grinned. "It was fun."  
  
Troi nodded her agreement. "He did a pretty good job to. Everyone was really impressed."  
  
The girls finished getting their things together and started towards their English class, where Sitya and Obi-Wan were already waiting. They walked in and saw Sitya and Obi-Wan sitting in a corner, with what they assumed to be the teacher of the class.  
  
"So, you're from South Africa and you were named after your grandfather's pig?" the teacher asked.  
  
Sitya answered for Obi-Wan, who was staring at Sitya and turning red. "Yes, where Obi-Wan comes from, they greatly love and respect their pigs. And when a pig dies and a baby is born the baby takes the name of that dead pig as a sign of respect." Sitya said all this with a straight face and Mr. Potk seemed fascinated.  
  
"Really?"  
  
Sitya nodded.  
  
Troi decided to interrupt, "Hello, Mr. Potk."  
  
Mr. Potk turned from the conversation and greeted the others as well. "So are these two also from South Africa on an exchange trip?" Troi saw Sitya vigorously nodding her head in the background. "Yes."  
  
Mr. Potk looked at Rick and Jack with interest. "So what are your names?"  
  
The two new comers introduced themselves and Mr. Potk looked disappointed when the names were normal.  
  
  
  
The first half of the day was finished, and the group stepped out of their English class and started heading back to where their lockers where located.  
  
Jack walked deep in thought and Troi noticed. "What's bothering you?"  
  
"I don't get all that 'where art thou?' stuff. I mean, there are some crazy writings in my galaxy, but nothing that confusing."  
  
"It's just the way people wrote back then and now we study it in high school. It's not that bad after you get used to all that funny talk."  
  
Rick jumped in. "I think Qui-Gon would like that sort of writing. He likes deep and complicated stuff."  
  
They made it to their locker and Dawn and Troi started pulling out their coats and putting them on.  
  
Sitya looked on and put on her best pouting face. "You're leaving me here? Again?"  
  
Dawn and Troi looked a bit uncomfortable. "Well we thought, that since both of us have a spare, we could take the guys out for lunch, I mean, the food here isn't all that great." Troi offered.  
  
Obi-Wan butted in, "I don't want to go. I wanna stay."  
  
Sitya looked at her two friends horrified. "Then you definitely have to stay. You can't leave me here alone with him!"  
  
Obi-Wan looked at her angrily "I'm not that bad of company and maybe if you were a little nicer, you would along with other people."  
  
The rest of the group saw an argument coming and decided that now would be as good a time as any to escape and go for lunch without being noticed.  
  
The four stepped out of the school and started walking towards Dawn's Bug, which was decided that they would use it to get to McDonalds.  
  
"Sitya's not going to be happy when she sees that we're gone." Troi pointed out.  
  
"She'll get over it.  
  
The four piled into the car, Dawn driving and Rick sitting beside with Troi and Jack in the back. "So where are we going?" Jack asked.  
  
"Mickie D's." Troi answered. At his blank look she continued. "A fast food restaurant, where we will be eating."  
  
"Don't we have to be back for your next class?"  
  
"Dawn and I both have a spare third block. 80 whole free minutes to do what we want."  
  
"What about Sitya and Obi-Wan?"  
  
"Sitya has math after lunch and I can only assume that Obi-Wan will be going with her."  
  
"Well, what if she doesn't let him?"  
  
"She will. She's not that mean."  
  
They made it to the restaurant and they decided to eat in. They walked in and the girls helped out their respective guys in choosing what to eat. It ended up with Dawn ordering a cheeseburger kids meal, Troi getting a Big Meal and Jack the same thing, Rick ended up ordering a crispy chicken meal. They found a table by the windows and sat down to eat.  
  
"So what classes are next?" Rick asked munching on his fries.  
  
"We only have one class left and that's Social. It's going to be just review since we already had our in class final."  
  
"Is your teacher mean?"  
  
Dawn shrugged. "No. She's kind of strict though."  
  
Jack joined in the conversation. "Would Rick and I need to use a Jedi mind trick to get in that class?"  
  
Dawn shook her head. "No. Last year, she let Sitya in the class when she had a spare. She'll let you in as long as you don't make noise and stuff."  
  
"Oh no."  
  
Dawn looked over at Troi and then out the window to where she was looking. "Oh no." She repeated.  
  
Jack lead over so he could see better out the window. "What is it?"  
  
Troi sighed and put down her food, "It's my old boyfriend."  
  
Jack looked even more interested. "Which one?"  
  
The group coming towards and stepping inside the restaurant consisted of two girls and two guys. The girls where wearing the same zip up, blue tank top and were giggling with each other. One was a bit overweight and the other looked like she thought she was queen or something. One of the guys was very tall and towered over the rest of the group, the other was short and looked like a weasel.  
  
Dawn pointed Troi's old boyfriend out. "He's the one that's really tall and has big ears, as Sitya would put it. His name is Bob, the other guy is Greg, and the two girls are the Fat and Ugly Kathrine's."  
  
Just as Dawn finished naming the new comers, Bob saw them and started to walk towards their table. "Hi Troi." He said looking down at her.  
  
Troi looked up at him. "Go away Bob."  
  
He had a hurt look on his face. "Why?"  
  
"You're annoying that's why. Let's go guys."  
  
Jack got out of from the table and helped Troi out of her seat, Rick was doing the same with Dawn. As Bob saw Jack helping Troi up he gave him a glare. "Who's that?" he demanded.  
  
Troi looked at him again. "Go away."  
  
"Who is that?" Bob repeated.  
  
Troi decided on a course of action, she put her arm around Jack's waist and said, "He's my boyfriend."  
  
"But I'm your boyfriend!"  
  
Troi sighed heavily. "No you're not Bob, we broke up four months ago."  
  
Bob grabbed her arm as his friends and Troi's looked on. Jack went to move and help Troi, but Dawn stopped him. "Let her do her thing."  
  
"Bob let go of me."  
  
"No. You're my girlfriend and I want to go now."  
  
Troi twisted out of his grasp and kicked him in the shin, hard. Bob let go with a yelp. "What did you do that for?" he demanded.  
  
"Seems to me it's the only way you'll learn." Troi picked up her purse and grabbed Jack's arm. "Come on let's get out of here." Dawn and Rick followed.  
  
Once outside, Dawn couldn't help but start laughing. "Do you know how many times it is now that you've kicked him?"  
  
"It's too many to count."  
  
"Why is this so funny?" Jack wanted to know.  
  
Dawn explained. "While Bob and Troi we're going out, he was always such a dork around us, and whenever he was acting stupid Troi would just kick him on the shin and tell him to shut up and behave."  
  
Jack looked at Troi in surprise. "I didn't think of you as the violent type."  
  
Troi sighed. "I guess Sitya's attitude is starting to rub off on me."  
  
The four climbed into the car and started heading towards the school again, when they got there they saw that there was still 30 minutes until class and the separated. Dawn and Rick gong in one direction and Troi and Jack going in the other.  
  
"Did you really mean what you said?" Jack wanted to know.  
  
"Mean what?"  
  
"About what you said to Bob at the restaurant. About us."  
  
Troi blushed a little, "Yeah, I guess so. I mean if it's alright with you."  
  
Jack laughed, "Sure it's fine with me. Just warn me when I'm acting like a jerk and I can prepare myself for the all famous Troi shin kick."  
  
  
  
"I can't believe they left me here." Sitya stated  
  
"In case you haven't noticed they left me here too." Obi-Wan pointed out.  
  
Sitya looked over and him, "A pity." The two were walking down the hallway that held the girl's lockers.  
  
"Hey Sitya." A petite brunette said from a bench.  
  
Sitya stopped walking down the hall and turned to greet who had spoken to her. "Hey, Eileen. What's up?"  
  
Eileen shrugged, "Nothing much." She paused and looked at Obi-Wan, "Who's the new honey?"  
  
Sitya was going to say that he was not her honey, but Obi-Wan beat her. "I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're in Sitya's English class aren't you?"  
  
Eileen nodded and then looked at Sitya again, who looked like she was somewhere else. "So Sitya, any more weird dreams about Prince William?"  
  
Sitya looked shocked, how could she say something like that in front of Obi- Wan?  
  
"Who's Prince William?"  
  
Eileen looked pleased to say something that would further embarrass Sitya, "He's a Prince from England and Sitya's been having dreams about him lately. Let's see, they've gone horse back riding, swimming… hey Sheena what else has Sitya done with Prince William?"  
  
"She's played laser tag with him." A tall girl said, sitting beside Eileen.  
  
"That's right." She pulled Sitya closer and whispered, "I don't think you're going to be having more dreams about William now that you've got him to look at." Eileen let go of her arm and grinned at Obi-Wan and gave a little wave.  
  
Sitya stood up straight and declared she was hungry, she gave a glare at Eileen and stalked away towards the cafeteria, leaving Obi-Wan alone with the bench full of girls.  
  
"Okay, guys move down, we have to make room for Obi-Wan."  
  
Soon there was a clear space for Obi-Wan to sit down. "So Obi-Wan, anything you want to know about Sitya, that's embarrassing. I've got lots that you could use on her."  
  
Obi-Wan laughed, "Sure, anything that you know would be greatly appreciated."  
  
  
  
Sitya came back a few minutes later carrying two sandwiches, one of which she threw to Obi-Wan. "I didn't know what kind of sandwich you would like, so you go the same as me." She stood over him and looked at him and then Eileen, who was smiling up at her. "What did you tell him?" she demanded.  
  
"Nothing." Eileen perkily said.  
  
Sitya turned to Obi-Wan, "What did she tell you?"  
  
"Nothing." He replied with a straight face.  
  
Sitya grumpily opened her sandwich wrap and began to eat it. "I swear if you told him anything Eileen, and if you say anything Obi-Wan, I will not be a happy camper."  
  
Sitya ate her lunch and listened to the conversations around her and even joined in a few. The girls where really interested in Obi-Wan and kept asking him questions, he answered everything, except for the ones that would give away that he wasn't from the same planet. The bell rang and the hallways became crowded again as students went to their lockers to gather their supplies and head to their classes.  
  
"What class do you have now?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"Math." Sitya walked down the hallway to where Obi-Wan had not yet been and led him to the back of the school, she walked into a relatively tiny, brightly lit room and sat down in her seat at the back.  
  
The room was soon filled with students and a short squat man walked in. "I'm sorry students, but something has come up and I will not be able to teach this class." He was answered by whoops and cheers. He raised his hands for quiet and continued. "However Mr. Leather will be in here to replace me." That shut the class up and they waited in silence as the teacher left and a new one walked in. The new teacher was the exact opposite of the one that had just left. He was very tall and intimidating. Mr. Leather did not waste any time in the class and immediately began teaching the class.  
  
Obi-Wan sat in the back and stared with amazement at the chalkboard, he leaned over to Sitya and whispered. "This is seriously the type of math you learn at this grade? I mean I learned this stuff when I was five."  
  
Sitya glared at him and told him to shut up.  
  
Mr. Leather turned from the board and stared at Obi-Wan and spoke to him. "Excuse me Mr…"  
  
Obi-Wan meekly supplied his name.  
  
"Mr. Kenobi, I don't have time to teach little jerks like you and I want you to remain quiet or get out of my class." He finished and pointed at the door. When Obi-Wan did not move he continued. "Well?"  
  
"I would like to stay here, sir."  
  
Mr. Leather grunted and turned back to the board, where he continued writing equations on the board.  
  
Obi-Wan looked over at Sitya and she gave him a smirk and mouthed 'pay attention.' Obi-Wan decided that he would use some of the things Eileen had told him about Sitya to his advantage.  
  
  
  
Troi, Dawn, Jack and Rick, gathered together again for the last class of the day, which for them was Social. The two young Jedi had had some pBoblems with Ms. Smith, the teacher of that class. Normally, Ms. Smith would not have had a pBoblem with other students in her classroom, as long as they were quiet and did not disturb the rest of the class. Today was an exception with her, finals were coming, in fact, in a couple of days and she was freaking, because she wasn't yet done teaching all the material that she wanted to finish. So Jack and Rick were forced to do a subtle mind trick on her and they were allowed inside the class.  
  
The class was quietly working on assignments that would help them on the upcoming exams, when Rick could no longer sit still and listen to all that buzzing in his head, that happened to him when it was really quiet.  
  
"Hey, Dawn. What are we going to be doing tonight?"  
  
Dawn continued reading her paper for awhile before answering, "I'm studying and I pBobably will be doing the same thing when I get home. So be quiet or you're going to get both of us in trouble." She turned back to her paper and resumed her reading.  
  
Rick sat back, he was totally bored out of his mind and he wanted to do or talk to something. He glanced over at Troi and Jack, who were discretely passing notes to each other and not doing any of their work. He sighed, rather loudly, which earned him a glare from Dawn. He wished he had a partner like Troi, Dawn was no fun, except when she felt like talking. He thought about some more, well, he could be worse off and have a partner like Sitya, who would bite his head off if he did the slightest thing wrong.  
  
"Pssssst. Dawn how long until class ends?"  
  
Ms. Smith heard that comment and declared, "Mr. O'Connell, since you seem to have immeasurable time on your hands, may I suggest a different activity for you?"  
  
Rick didn't exactly feel like he had a choice and nodded his head, "Alright." He glanced around the room and saw the whole class staring at him.  
  
Ms. Smith nodded her head gravely, "Very well, how about a 1000 word essay on the importance of silence in the classroom, studying and allowing others to complete their work in peace."  
  
She stared at him and Rick lowered his head to the desk, he felt himself turning red. "Yes ma'am. When do you want the essay due?"  
  
"Who said anything about an essay? I do believe I gave three topics and I expect three essays to be completed and handed in by tomorrow."  
  
Rick's mouth dropped open, 'three essay's in one night? How was he supposed to manage that?'  
  
"Do you have a pBoblem with the schedule that I have set?"  
  
Rick shook his head, just as the buzzer rang, for the end of the day.  
  
Ms. Smith continued over the noise, "Good, I do look forward to your insightful essay."  
  
The group of four moved out into the hallway and Dawn commented, "Let's see, I was going to study and then go play bowling tonight and I was looking for a partner, but now I guess since your not going to be able to make it, I'll just go play that N64 game that you really like."  
  
Rick glared at her and then went to punch her the arm, but was already running down the hallway. Rick followed after her.  
  
  
  
"What class do you have now?"  
  
"I've already told you, like a hundred times before, Phys. Ed."  
  
"I didn't bring an extra pair of clothes to run around in." Obi-Wan was stopped from saying anything more, when a T-shirt and shorts were thrown at him.  
  
"You can use those."  
  
Sitya showed him where the change rooms were for the guys and then went up to the girls, "I'll meet right her, where everyone else is going to be." She said and disappeared up the stairs.  
  
Obi-Wan was the first out and went to wait for Sitya at the circle that was forming in the center of the gym. A smaller black man came up to him and said. "What are you doing here? You're not in this class."  
  
So Obi-Wan had to do a Jedi mind trick on the teacher that he learned was Mr. Rose, and he had no further trouble with being recognized or in this case the lack of it.  
  
Sitya came and sat down beside him. "What did you do to Mr. Rose?" she asked.  
  
"Just a mind trick." He looked over and saw the worried expression on her face. "It's not permanent or anything and it doesn't do any damage."  
  
Sitya nodded, taking his word and then the two, along with the rest of the class paid attention to what they were going to do for this class.  
  
"It's going to be floor hockey, since there is nothing planned for this day." Mr. Rose started. "We'll divide into separate teams, but we'll make it girls against guys, see how that goes and then if there are any pBoblems we'll do something else tomorrow."  
  
The class was divided and sent to their corners of the gym, which they would be playing. Sitya and Obi-Wan were on opposing sides, and both of them looked forward to competing with each other.  
  
Obi-Wan followed the rest of the class to the equipment room, where sticks were stored, he was a bit worried since he had no idea of how to play this game. But he thought it couldn't be that hard.  
  
In fact, he was right and learned the rules and such as he went along. He watched out for Sitya to make sure she wasn't in front of the net so she couldn't score, she had done that a lot throughout the entire class. He looked around to find her and saw her standing right in front of him, who was standing in front of the net.  
  
"Over here! I'm open!" Sitya declared. The puck moved towards her and Obi- Wan moved to intercept. Sitya got the puck first and raised her stick for a shot and fired the puck. The result was 'thuck', and Obi-Wan felt pain, going up and down his left leg. Obi-Wan had stood in front of Sitya to block the shot, but he didn't realize how close he really was. Close enough to get hit in the shin, by a very lethal plastic stick.  
  
"Ouch!" he shouted and started hopping on his good leg. Play stopped, throughout the whole gym. "What'd you hit me for?" he yelled at Sitya.  
  
"I didn't hit you! You were in the way!" Sitya threw back.  
  
Mr. Rose came up and asked if he was going to be okay.  
  
Obi-Wan nodded and returned his attention to Sitya. "You did that on purpose!" he accused.  
  
"Did not!"  
  
They argued for a few seconds, much to the amusement of the class and it's teacher, who decided after awhile that that was enough. "Basts, since you're the one who hit him, I suggest you take him down to the office and get some ice for that leg. It looks like it's swelling a little bit."  
  
Sitya nodded and started walking towards the doors out of the gym, she turned back and saw Obi-Wan slowly making he's way after her. She walked back over to him in a huff. "What is your pBoblem?"  
  
"I can't walk." He answered testily.  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes, "Hurry up. I want to go back and play."  
  
Obi-Wan became angry, "I wouldn't have a pBoblem walking if I had both of my legs operational, but seen as how you damaged one, I won't be able to meet your demands."  
  
Sitya studied him. "Do you want help?"  
  
He snorted, "Where am I supposed to get that from?"  
  
"Me, you idiot."  
  
By this time, Obi-Wan had made his way over to the side of the gym and was resting against the wall. He looked at Sitya with uncertainty, thinking that she had something planned that would further hurt or embarrass him.  
  
Sitya saw him looking and him and rolled her eyes. "Come on. Do you really think I would injure someone who's already crippled?" she saw Obi-Wan tilt his head to the side and consider the question, "Wait. You don't have to answer that. Come here, I'll help you to the office." She moved over to his side and put his left arm around her shoulders and then wrapped her arms around his waist. "Yuck. You stink." She declared as the slowly made their way out of the gym, although it was faster compared to the speed that Obi- Wan was traveling before.  
  
"You don't smell so good yourself." He declared.  
  
They made it to the office with no further difficulty and Sitya went to get ice, as Obi-Wan settled into a chair. Sitya came back and placed an ice pack on his leg, where he was whacked with the stick. She looked at him and said gruffly, "Just because I'm being nice right now doesn't mean that I will always be, so don't get used to it."  
  
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, and sarcastically stated, "Not even in my dreams."  
  
  
  
Everyone got home and went their separate ways to do what had to be done. The girls all went to their rooms to study, Rick was in his room trying to write the three essays which were due tomorrow, Jack and Obi-Wan were in the kitchen, trying to figure out how to cook a pizza pop in the microwave for diner.  
  
Qui-Gon made his rounds, talking to each person individually and listening to how their day had gone. He was pleased to learn that the majority of the day for all of them was all right, with virtually no mishaps about the three Jedi coming to school. He lectured Rick on paying attention in class and trying to blend in with the other students of that school. He heard about Jack and Troi's decision about them going out and told them not to let that get in the way of their upcoming mission. The response to that was a muttered 'yeah, yeah' and the rolling of eyes. Qui-Gon also checked on Obi-Wan's shin and saw there was an already sizable bruise forming, he instructed Obi-Wan to go into a Jedi healing trance for two hours after supper.  
  
Qui-Gon had spent his time in the library reading about Earth's history, which he found extremely interesting and he looked forward to tomorrow where he could return to it with peace and quiet.  
  
  
  
The next day and the ones following were very much the same as the first, except for when the girls had their finals to write and the guys stayed home, doing Jedi stuff. It was now the last day of exams for the girls; Dawn and Troi would finish in the morning and come home to prepare for the missions. Sitya had one more exam in the afternoon and would be picked up and driven home. She would not be able to drive herself home, because of an accident involving Obi-Wan, learning to drive and her favorite blue truck.  
  
The four Jedi and the two girls were out in the back of the house and the girls were learning how to properly handle a lightsaber. Jack was teaching Troi and Rick was teaching Dawn, since Sitya wasn't here to be taught anything, Obi-Wan had relinquished his lightsaber to Dawn while Troi was using Qui-Gon's.  
  
They were separated into pairs one on each side of Qui-Gon where he could keep on eye on everything and ensure safety, he watched as Dawn went to jab at Rick and missed totally, when he just sided stepped out of the way.  
  
Dawn became frustrated, "How am supposed to learn anything about fighting with this thing, if you keep running away?"  
  
"I am not running away. I'm just trying to make you work." Rick stated.  
  
"Well stop jumping around and fight like a man."  
  
Rick shrugged, "Alright." He charged after her Dawn had to desperately block his advances.  
  
Qui-Gon nodded in approval, she was showing extraordinary skill, the same with Troi. He had learned that the girls were already trained in a majority of sword type of fighting styles. The lightsaber was just a different tool with a new technique.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Qui-Gon saw Dawn stumble forward towards Rick, who tried to step out of the way of the flailing lightsaber that she was holding. By doing that Rick placed his own lightsaber dangerously close to Dawn's head and moved it fast enough not to take off her head. However the lightsaber cut off a fair amount of her hair.  
  
All five stood staring at the clump of hair on the ground, for a moment and then Dawn started to freak. "You idiot! You chopped off my hair! Do you know how long it took to grow my hair that long." She moaned. "And grads just 2 weeks away." Dawn dejectedly looked down at her hair and then felt what little remained on her head. It was still a fair bit, but it was a very noticeable change. Dawn became angry. "I'm gonna kill you!" she activated Obi-Wan's lightsaber and advanced on Rick, who was backing away very slowly, raising his hands in self-defense.  
  
"Come on Dawn," he said softly. "It was just an accident. Your hair will grow back in no time."  
  
"Not before grad." She said testily. She started chasing after Rick, wielding the very dangerous lightsaber.  
  
Qui-Gon sighed, he thought that this would have been a peaceful afternoon. Why did they always act like children when something like this happened?  
  
"Um… Master Qui-Gon, aren't you going to do something about them?" Troi asked, watching the spectacle before them. Dawn had just cornered Rick in between two trees and was advancing on him.  
  
Qui-Gon almost blurted 'why?', but he did the grown up thing he was instructed to do and told Dawn to stop. When she didn't he raised his hand and called the lightsaber to him, leaving Dawn without a weapon and speechless.  
  
"That is quite enough." he stated. Just then his comlink beeped at him and he snatched it up and began listening to it.  
  
It was at 2:00 pm when Qui-Gon was contacted by the Jedi Council and was told that it was time to move. He was instructed to go to Hogwarts and wait to be debriefed there. He had no idea where Hogwarts was and was reassured that the girls knew and necessary travel plans were being set up.  
  
Everyone, except Sitya, who was to be picked up at school, piled into the minivan with the already prepared bags they would be taking with them.  
  
Obi-Wan grunted as he lifted one of Sitya's bags into the back of the minivan. "What does she have in there?" he wondered outloud.  
  
Chandara looked over and said. "Knowing her, pBobably a lot of weapons."  
  
They picked up Sitya at school and drove to the airport, where a private jet was waiting for them. They would be taken to New York, where the first available Concorde would take them to England and then they would be taken by train to Hogwarts and their awaiting missions.  
  
  
  
The group of weary travelers got off the train and stepped onto the dark platform.  
  
"I wonder where our escort is?" Qui-Gon spoke out loud.  
  
Dawn shrugged and turned to where their suitcases were magically piling up. She started to sort through the assorted bags, separating the equipment from the clothes and into separate piles for each of the seven people standing on the platform. Dawn slowly stopped sorting and exclaimed, "Sitya! You've got more guns and gadgets than you do clothes!"  
  
Sitya leaned over and saw her growing pile of equipment, "So, I don't see the pBoblem."  
  
Dawn just rolled her eyes and glanced over to the far end of the platform and three figures walking towards them. "Looks like our escort is here," she gestured behind everyone. They all turned and watched the people approach.  
  
Sitya happily clapped her hands and ran towards them.  
  
Qui-Gon looked to Troi to explain, "They're friends of hers."  
  
"What kind of friends?"  
  
Troi paused and thought a bit before she spoke, "Well last Christmas, Eric sent us her for some training in magic potions and such. Turns out Sitya has a natural knack for the prank and trouble making kind of magic," she paused again, not wanting Sitya to get another lecture about the incident that occurred last time they were here. "Sitya and the two guys coming over turned this guy entirely purple. She's been punished already, they took away her wand and said she wasn't allowed to use it until they saw that she was fit to use it again."  
  
Qui-Gon sighed. He hoped that he wouldn't have to deal with any of those types of issues while they stayed here or in fact he wished that nothing would happen during their missions. He would have to have a long chat with the whole group about behavior and what would be expected of them during their time together.  
  
Sitya and the group walked over towards the waiting others. When they reached each other Sitya made the introductions; "Guys these people are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger," as she made the introductions she pointed to a tall young man with dark black hair, glasses and an interesting lighting scar that was on his left temple. Next was another young man, this one tall and had shockingly red hair and freckles. The last was a young lady with frizzy/puffy hair and had an air about her that suggested extreme intelligence. All three were wearing black Bobes with a little symbol above their right breast that pictured a lion and had the word 'Gryffindor' underneath it. It seemed they were wizards of some type.  
  
Sitya turned and did the introductions for the rest of the group. "So why were you late?"  
  
Hermoine lifted her chin up into the air. "Harry and Ron had some last minute potion work to do."  
  
Sitya started laughing. "You were actually doing Potions homework?"  
  
Again Hermoine lifted her chin. "No, they weren't. They were making some potion up for one of their childish pranks."  
  
Sitya became interested. "Did it work?"  
  
This time Ron beat Hermoine to answering. "No. We've never really been able to get any prank magic right, since you left Sitya," he brightened a little, "Do you think you could help us out with something before we go anywhere?"  
  
Qui-Gon pointedly stepped into the conversation. "What do you mean 'we'?"  
  
"Well yes we. There's a whole load of new people at Hogwarts and everyone is talking about a big trip and everything. The three of us," he pointed to Harry, Hermoine and himself, "are going as well."  
  
"And who told you this?"  
  
Hermoine explained the rest. "Headmaster Dumbledore said that he had a meeting with some 'Jedi' and that some new people and some of Hogwarts students themselves would be going as well. He said that the 'Jedi' would like you to contact them when you got the chance."  
  
Qui-Gon nodded. "Thank you for passing on the message."  
  
The large group went about picking up their luggage and arranged it so it wouldn't all fall when they went for a walk. When all gear was up off the ground, everyone followed the wizards down a path and towards a lakefront where boats were waiting. The view was astounding, a great lake spread out in front of them, with eerily calm water. Above and beyond the lake was an immense castle with glittering little lights scattered here and there.  
  
The wizards stepped into two waiting boats and started settling the baggage down. The three girls climbed in with no hesitation, but the Jedi stood and openly stared at the flimsy looking boats.  
  
Jack was the first to speak. "Uhm. Are those things safe?"  
  
Troi nodded and held out her hand to help Jack in. "Sure it is."  
  
The other Jedi slowly got into the boats after seeing that nothing was falling into the water or sinking.  
  
Sitya spoke up. "Just watch out for the giant octopus."  
  
"Sitya!" Troi yelled.  
  
"What! I'm just trying to warn them about the octopus."  
  
"You didn't have to say it like it was a big man eating monster."  
  
Sitya shrugged and started searching for a comfortable place to sit.  
  
The two boats moved off with no effort on their part. Hermoine explained to the Jedi that it was guided magically to the school. And that the giant octopus was in fact very shy and rarely seen.  
  
"How do you keep this place hidden from people?" Qui-Gon asked.  
  
Hermoine launched into an explanation, "If you read 'Hogwarts: A History,' it will explain everything to you. The castle and the surrounding area are magically protected from Muggles- people who don't have the ability to use magic. If they get to near, they have a sudden feeling that they forgot to do something and they rush to do it. Even their technology is non-functional here."  
  
"Then how come we could bring all this equipment with us?" Rick asked.  
  
"Special magic that Headmaster Dumbledore mixed up," Ron answered. "Besides other new people needed to bring some of their equipment too."  
  
"What kind of other people are there?" Jack wanted to know.  
  
Harry answered, "A few other people from Earth, but also some from another place, and time. There's a couple of archeologists, cops, a weirdly dark man, and a few other wizard type people."  
  
"Sounds interesting," Obi-Wan muttered.  
  
The boats slowly pulled up to a dock and the group got out. The three wizard escorts led the way through twisting tunnels and then finally ended at a heavy set of doors. Although appearing to be heavy and immobile, the doors swung open with the slightest touch and opened up into an extensive hallway, full of portraits, statues and grand staircases.  
  
"The people in the pictures are moving!" exclaimed Rick.  
  
Ron rolled his eyes, "I don't think I'll ever understand what is so fascinating about things moving in pictures."  
  
"But they're moving." Rick repeated.  
  
"That's just the way things are here Rick," Dawn said. "I'm sure if they went to your world they'd find a lot of interesting things as well."  
  
The wizards resumed leading them to their destination and came to another set of heavy doors, which opened as they approached. The room was filled with noise and it almost physically attacked them as they entered the hall.  
  
Almost immediately the hall fell silent as the group arrived. Qui-Gon surveyed the room and saw that the majority of the people inside were young, all sitting at four separate tables. Further into the hall at the farthest end where the group was standing was another table. This one filled with older people, which Qui-Gon took as the teachers of this establishment. There was another table, separated by the others and most of the chairs were filled. The separated table was where they were led and the sat down in the remaining empty seats. There was still one chair that remained empty and Qui-Gon thought it would be filled shortly. The room started to buzz again as the group made their way towards the other table.  
  
On the far side of the table sat a man that looked to be used to getting into trouble or it finding him. He looked sharp and intelligent, taking in everything in, analyzing it and storing it, if he saw it might be worth something. The head of table on the man's right was empty, but next to him sat Sitya, Ron, and Harry. The three of them immediately started talking and every once in awhile he caught them giving evil glances to a young man sitting on their side of the table, but on the other end. Who in turn was also glaring at them. Qui-Gon had the feeling that something between the four of them may happen and it wouldn't be pleasant. Next to Harry sat Hermoine, then Dawn and Troi. All three were talking and seemed to be getting along fine, nothing to suggest that they were planning anything mischievous. A very dark man was sitting next to Troi; he was clad entirely in black leather and wore what looked to be a very lethal sword strapped to his back. Next came a youthful looking young man, with a shaven head and wearing what looked to be military garb, from what Qui-Gon had read, while he stayed at the girls mansion. A scruffy looking man came next; he had the same air as the man sitting beside Sitya, but seemed to be in pain. He kept raising his fingers and rubbing them against his temples as if he had a headache. Lastly was the young man who Sitya, Ron and Harry had been glaring at. He had an air about him that demanded importance, not so much as from respect, but from because he thought he deserved it. He was also dressed the same as every other wizard in training, but he had a difference that separated him from the other three young wizards at the table, he wore a badge of a snake and underneath it read 'Slytherin'.  
  
An elderly looking man, with then wiry gray hair and oversized blue Bobes occupied the other head of the table. He sat talking to two other people, a young man and a young woman. The young man wore a striking outfit that was simple, but spoke of importance and power. It was black, but had various silver and gold decorations, on the outfit or on his arms and legs. The woman next to him had very long brunette hair and wore a simple white dress. Much the same as the young man, she had a powerful aura about her, which demanded attention. Another man followed, dressed very differently from the modern mode of dress. The clothes seemed old and out of place. He also wore a very old looking gun, compared to the ones that Sitya had shown him and he had a long coil of leather strapped to his waist. After that was an overly large man, not from fat, but by immense muscle mass, he seemed to be friendly, but Qui-Gon didn't want to know what would happen if you crossed him. Next came Jack across from Troi and Rick across from Dawn. Obi- Wan sat in between Rick and Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon looked to his left and was utterly surprised to see that Mace Windu was sitting next to him.  
  
"I was wondering when you would notice that I was here."  
  
Qui-Gon laughed and extended his hand to the dark man and his old friend, "Nice to see you Mace! What brings you here?"  
  
"The Council thought it might be best to send another Master along on the mission. Especially Yoda, he said that he sensed a disturbance in the force."  
  
Qui-Gon became serious, "Really?"  
  
Mace laughed, "Not something to really worry, not really. He just said that he sensed you were having troubles with controlling your three new charges."  
  
Rolling his eyes Qui-Gon explained what Yoda had meant, "Those two over there," he pointed to Dawn and Troi, "are no pBoblem what so ever. Wait I take that back, sometimes there's no pBoblems, but other times…" he lifted his arms and left the sentence unfinished. "But that one," this time he pointed to Sitya, "is the real trouble maker. I never know what she's going to do next, but I know it can't be good."  
  
"Come on Jinn, she can't be that bad. Besides, shouldn't you at least get an idea of what's going to happen? You are a Jedi Master after all."  
  
"Just you wait and see. She's pBobably worse than we were, when we were kids and pulling pranks at the Jedi Temple. And about me not being able to sense what may happen is due to the fact that she and her two friends are Force sensitive and quite skilled at hiding what they are thinking and about to do."  
  
"They are?"  
  
Qui-Gon nodded, "With some guidance and teaching, they could become very powerful Jedi."  
  
The two old friends were unable to continue talking when the three young Jedi came over to Mace Windu and started asking questions about what was happening at the Temple and the galaxy in general.  
  
Qui-Gon finished his survey of the table and saw there were two more people he had not noticed. A young woman with long braided hair sat next to Mace and across from Sitya. She was dressed in black and wore two guns, one on each thigh. She too, also held an importance about her and intelligence. But also seemed to be suspicious of everything and not able to make friends easily. Lastly came a middle-aged man, who was sharp, with spectacled eyes roaming the hall and processing everything.  
  
That left the other head of the table vacant and Qui-Gon could not see who would be sitting there, so he decided to sit back and relax for a while.  
  
Finally, after a few minutes an old man walked in front of the professor's table and waited for the room to quiet down. It didn't take long when some students saw the man standing and poked other people to become quiet.  
  
"Young wizards and guests," a spread his arms encompassing the room, "I'm sure you are all wondering when dinner will be served." The hall erupted in laughter. "But there are a few things to go over before it is served. First, as you've all noticed there are guest here tonight who have come from afar and near. Second, some of them have brought along some of their supplies, none of which is to be touched except with permission from the owner and even then with extreme care. Thirdly, our guests will be dispersed throughout the castle for sleeping arrangements and are not to be disturbed. Finally, the great hall will be off limits to all but those at the new table. Anyone caught will be punished severely and removed form Hogwarts. It will be open again at an undisclosed time, but the doors will be open when that time has arrived."  
  
The hall grew into a dull roar and the old man waited for it to become quiet again. "Now since these are strange circumstances that have been thrust upon you and some of the professors will be needed in the near future. Classes for Friday, tomorrow are canceled," the hall again exploded into noise, this time much louder. "You may now eat!" the man cried over the noise. The man waved his arms and all the plates on all the tables were instantly covered in food.  
  
Troi stared at all the food. "I have got to learn how to do that trick!"  
  
"Still thinking with your stomach aren't you Troi?" Dawn teased.  
  
The old man stepped away from the professor's table and headed for the last vacant chair and took a seat. The whole table and in fact the whole room began to eat the hundreds of foods set out before them. Qui-Gon was surprised when he saw that empty dishes were immediately replaced with food when the time came. It was a renewable resource in a sense. He looked around the table and saw that there were a few conversations going on with strangers mixing in together. He nodded in satisfaction; it was good that everyone was getting acquainted with each other before business was started.  
  
"I must say Qui-Gon those clothes you're wearing are very different from your Jedi Bobes."  
  
Qui-Gon glanced down at his jeans and T-shirt and again turned to his old friend. "It's the style on this planet my friend. It wouldn't do for us to go out and be seen in rather unearthly clothes."  
  
Mace nodded his head. "Point." He nodded towards the three young Jedi Knights and the three girls that sat across from them. "Tell me how things have been going along with the pairings and your stay here on this planet."  
  
"Well let's see. That one young lady across from Jack is the nicest of the three girls. Troi and Jack seem to be an item, which is nice, but I hope it doesn't interfere with their mission. The one next to her and across from Rick are paired up and are civil towards each other, but never give up a chance to pester the other or pull a prank," a slight smile tugged at Qui-Gon's mouth. "We just went through an episode where Rick accidentally chopped off some of Dawn's hair, while trying to show her some lightsaber techniques. That was a nearly fatal one, Dawn was threatening to kill him with Obi-Wan's lightsaber. That was a little entertaining when all was settled down and a little more calmer."  
  
Mace laughed, "I would have loved to see that. What about Obi-Wan there?" he nodded toward the lone Jedi sitting and listening to the conversations going on between his fellow Knights and their partners.  
  
Jinn shook his, "That pairing is not going as well as the others. Sitya and Obi-Wan seem to hate each other for no good reason and are always looking for a way to hurt each other. Either by a prank or physically. They constantly quarrel and it's very hard for them to stop once they get going." He looked at Sitya and saw that the other man beside had joined in their conversation and was sketching something out on a napkin, the three troublemakers were nodding their heads vigorously and seemed excited about something. Qui-Gon hoped dearly that it didn't involve any pranks or such.  
  
Mace shrugged, "All in good time my friend."  
  
Qui-Gon looked at his friend and asked a question, "Do you really understand what type of mission this is really about?"  
  
Again Mace shrugged and repeated, "All in good time my friend."  
  
The conversations rose and fell as the meal continued and after half an hour the room started to empty, until finally the one table was the only left that was full.  
  
The older man again stood up and addressed the people assembled together, "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. I will now discuss what is needed to be discussed, however, I am not the organizer of this mission, so I will allow one who is, Mace Windu, take charge and explain what needs to be known," he gestured over to Mace, who stood up.  
  
"Thank you for coming, the Jedi Council, in another galaxy," he explained for those who already didn't know, "have started a program that brings different beings, peoples, skills and technologies together, to do complicated missions that would affect all our relative galaxies and lives." he paused. "Each of you has something unique to contribute to this program and the missions that are upcoming, now and in the future."  
  
The young man dressed in military garb interrupted him. "So you're saying that we're like an elite fighting team?"  
  
Mace nodded, "For lack of a better word, yes."  
  
The man grinned, "Cool!"  
  
"Now to continue with the upcoming mission, each of you will be separated into three groups, but all of you will be going on the same quest, just in different directions. The Jedi Council, has already had contact from the peoples who wish for our help and are indeed waiting for us to arrive."  
  
"What time are we leaving?" the man with the glasses asked.  
  
"About 24 hours from now, just enough time to prepare and get organized. Each group will be out seeking three stones that hold ultimate power on the planet and land that we are going to. Of course there are also peoples who seek the stones to control others."  
  
"Well what are we going to be doing with them?" Harry asked.  
  
"We will take them to a volcano and cast them into the fire. Unfortunately the volcano is also in enemy territory. A hand in our favor is that the enemy is already considerably weakened from the exploits of those who are waiting for us. The enemy, Sauron, has lost his 'one ring' that permits vast amounts of power; he seeks the three stones to gain some of the power back that he lost. They are no where near as powerful as his 'ring,' but they're still sufficient for him to rule all of the land, Middle Earth, I believe it's called."  
  
"First of all let's introduce ourselves, then break into our groups. Next you may explore the castle, sleep, or do whatever that you please. My name is Mace Windu, I'm a Jedi Master and a member of the Jedi Council. I will be coordinating everything until we arrive at Middle Earth," he nodded to the man at the head of the table, who spoke before the meal began.  
  
"I'm Professor Dumbledore and headmaster of this wizardry school."  
  
The route of the introductions went to the headmaster's right. "I'm Gil Grissom and head of the Las Vegas Crime Scene Investigation Unit."  
  
"Lara Croft, archaeologist," this came from the woman in black and had the two guns.  
  
They skipped Mace Windu and went to Qui-Gon. "My name is Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi Master and instructor to Obi-Wan Kenobi," he pointed to Obi- Wan beside him.  
  
"Umm, I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight in training."  
  
"Rick O'Connell, Jedi Knight."  
  
"Jack Traven, Jedi Knight."  
  
"Special agent Harry Tasker, a spy for Omega-Sector," said the muscle man.  
  
The man with the whip came next, "Indiana Jones, also an archaeologist."  
  
The elderly man at the other end of the table introduced himself and the other two persons who had been skipped. "I'm wizard of the First Order, Zedd Z'ul Zorander, you can call me Zedd," he gestured to the man sitting beside him, "this is my grandson, Richard Rahl, ruler of the New World and the woman beside him his Kahlan Amnell, Mother Confessor of the Midlands and Richard's wife."  
  
The introductions started on the other side of the table, beside Zedd.  
  
"Draco Malfoy, student of Hogwarts and member of the Slytherins," his voice was high and sniffling.  
  
"John McClane, New York cop and I have one hell of a bad headache," the group chuckled at his remark.  
  
"Private First Class Todd Blackburn."  
  
"Blade, vampire hunter."  
  
"Troi Denning, comic relief," that remark got a groan from her two friends and the Jedi. "What! Dawn dared me to say it."  
  
"Dawn Tells, subtle manipulator."  
  
"Hermoine Granger, student at Hogwarts and member of Gryffindor."  
  
"Harry Potter, same as her," he pointed to Hermoine.  
  
"Ron Weasley, ditto."  
  
"Sitya Basts, an anything specialist."  
  
The last man introduced himself, "Martin Riggs, LAPD."  
  
"Now that all that is settled, I think it wouldn't be too much trouble for all of us to take a break. We will meet again at 11:00 am and prepare to depart. Although there is very little to organize, most of your equipment is already put in order and ready to go. You may go." Mace rose from is chair and the other people gathered followed his example and started to head for the doors of the hall.  
  
The three young Jedi, the three girls and the three Gryffindor students left together. They decided to go to the Gryffindor's common room to plan for something fun to do.  
  
The group was walking up the stairs when they began to move. "Does everything in this place move!" Rick exclaimed. The stairs still had the Jedi on it and was moving away from where the rest of group was standing.  
  
"Come on you have to jump." Ron encouraged.  
  
"Jump! Do you see how far down the bottom is!" Obi-Wan panicked.  
  
"That's where those Jedi levitating skills come in, dumb ass!" Sitya taunted.  
  
The Jedi shut up and prepared to leap over the ever widening gap that was forming between them and their destination. Jack went first, since he saw that it was better sooner than later, Rick followed and Obi-Wan trailed behind him, teetering on the edge of the stairs. Sitya and Ron grabbed onto an arm and pulled him in.  
  
"Thanks," he said breathlessly.  
  
"Next time I'll leave you. Do you always think before you act."  
  
"Sometimes that's thought of as good. You think before you do anything rash or stupid, like you usually do!"  
  
Sitya lunged and tried to wrap her hands around his neck, but Obi-Wan side stepped and both of them ended up teetering on the edge of the stairs. Both back peddled and stopped at a fair distance away from the cliff.  
  
"Don't tell me you thought before you did that!"  
  
Obi-Wan thought it useless to argue and started to follow the rest of the group who were already climbing up the next set of stairs.  
  
Sitya made a rude noise. "Hey, I was talking to you!" Obi-Wan didn't answer and Sitya quietly got behind him and followed the rest of the group up the rest of the stairs.  
  
"Alright, here we are." Harry announced.  
  
Jack cleared his throat. "Um, where's the door?"  
  
"Right there," Harry pointed to a painting of a fat lady in a lavender dress.  
  
"Hate to burst your bubble, Harry pal, but it's just a painting." Rick pointed out.  
  
"Just a painting! I beg your pardon!" cried out the fat lady.  
  
Rick jumped back. "They talk too!"  
  
Dawn patted his arm in sympathy, "Don't worry. It'll just take a little while to get used to. Like I said before, I'm sure there are a lot of things in your galaxy that we would find strange."  
  
"Hickery jickery coco puff!" Harry said. Nothing happened and after awhile Harry got impatient, "Well, aren't you going to open the door?"  
  
The fat lady painting just stared at him for awhile and then announced, "I will not open my door to anyone who insults me." She turned around, so her back was facing them and sat down.  
  
Harry sighed and turned to Rick, "I think you should apologize."  
  
"I'm not apologizing to a painting! Do you know how stupid that would look," he crossed his arms stubbornly.  
  
"It looks about as stupid as us standing around out here," Dawn pointed out. "Besides, that's where we have to sleep and that's where all our clothes are."  
  
"I'm not apologizing!" the rest of the group just stared at him and waited. "Oh alright! I'm sorry that I called you just a painting," he directed at the fat lady.  
  
The fat lady did nothing and continued to ignore him.  
  
This time Rick tried to sound extremely sorry and said as sincerely as he could, "I am really sorry that I called you a painting."  
  
The fat lady umpfed and silently let the whole group into the Gryffindor section of the castle. The three Jedi looked around and saw that the first room seemed to be something of a gathering place. It held a huge fire, which was crackling away and chairs that were haphazardly placed around the room.  
  
Two young men that looked like Ron came up to Sitya. "Hey Sitya, anything new from the outside world?"  
  
Sitya shrugged. "Just new CD's and such, oh and music videos too."  
  
A crowd was growing around them. One little girl asked tentatively, "Do you think you could put on a concert again like you, Dawn and Troi did at Christmas?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
One of the first two boys answered, "Because it was fun and we don't have that kind of music, dances and parties that were like the one that you guys threw."  
  
Sitya turned to her two friends and the talked for awhile. Finally she turned and answered, "It's going to have to be tonight, my friends and I have to leave pretty soon. And if we do have it we need to find a room big enough for all of us. I'm warning you though it may not be as much fun, because it's just going to be thrown together."  
  
The other red headed boy shrugged, "Fine with me. We could have it in the Great Hall since it's not in use anymore. Right?" He looked to the three girls who nodded, "Alright! Let's party!"  
  
  
  
Qui-Gon and Mace Windu were walking in the halls of Hogwarts after their holo- communication with the Jedi Council.  
  
"Something's bothering you my friend." Mace observed.  
  
Qui-Gon nodded. "I don't like the Council's decision on this mission."  
  
Mace laughed, "You rarely agree with anything the Council decides, even when I do the decisions as well."  
  
"It's not just that. I think they are placing too much on the three girls on this mission. They are being placed in considerable danger and they don't even know it yet."  
  
"The key word there is yet, my friend they will be told when the time comes."  
  
"When?"  
  
"When we arrive at Middle-Earth and everyone else that is on this mission is introduced," Mace turned to face Qui-Gon. "Do you lack faith that they will be able to complete what they are assigned to do?"  
  
"No. All three are highly capable of taking care of themselves, others and complete what they set out to do. I just don't like the idea that everything must rest on their shoulders." A thought occurred to him that may take the three girls out of danger. "What of the people of Middle- Earth? Did they agree with this decision as well?"  
  
Mace nodded. "They were the ones who decided who will carry the three stones. They had read about them from the papers Eric had given us and then we gave them. It does make sense. Three young powerful, capable, strong- willed women and three stones that hold the power to control others. The Council and those on Middle-Earth agree that the three girls are the best hope they have. They will not easily be turned to wanting power over others. They have been raised well and have a good set beliefs of justice and good versus evil."  
  
Qui-Gon shook his head, "I still don't like it." The two Jedi Masters continued in silence, then Qui-Gon asked another question. "Yoda spoke of a prophecy. What was that about?"  
  
"The three girls are in a number of prophecies, in our galaxy, this one and in Middle-Earth. Not by name of course, but through the knowledge of what we know that the girls have done, it is safe to assume that they are indeed 'the Guardians.'  
  
"Why have I not heard of this before?"  
  
"If you were on the Council you would have." Mace said, to try to ease the tension that was surrounding this subject. "It seems that the girls are interconnected with other universes, galaxies, etc. It's not so much as the prophecy of the 'one who will bring balance to the Force', but almost. They don't bring balance, they just try to triumph over evil, if you will. Preventing some apocalypse or just helping those who need help. It may not sound like much, but it seems they are shapers that have made the world it is today and will continue to do shaping for a very long time. So the term 'Guardians' is used for lack of a better word. They guard peace and justice, just to name a few."  
  
They continued on their walk, each Master in their own thoughts and heard a distant booming sound coming from up ahead.  
  
"What is that?" Mace asked.  
  
"I think I know what it is. And I think it's coming from the Great Hall. Let's find out shall we?" Qui-Gon quickened is pace and walked in the direction of the Great Hall. As he did so the sound became louder and they finally got to the grand doors. The sound was indeed coming from inside. Qui-Gon pushed the doors open and was again assaulted by noise as when he had first arrived. There was a mass of what looked to be students dancing on the makeshift dance floor, which had just been cleared of the tables from dinner.  
  
Rick saw the two Jedi standing in the doorway and moved to greet them. "Hello Masters. Do you mind closing the doors? Dumbledore said we could have this party if the doors remained closed."  
  
Mace looked at him in amazement. "Someone actually gave you permission to play this racket?!" he shouted over the noise.  
  
"Sure. Why not? You can stay if you want," he turned to Qui-Gon. "Obi- Wan said that he's going to get Sitya back for getting him to go on that bungee jump. Just in case you wanted to know."  
  
"I thought it was a gradual thing."  
  
"It is. He's got Dawn and Troi joining in with her. And he even asked that Lara Croft woman to join in too."  
  
"Why does there have to be four?"  
  
"Troi's the one who picked out the song and there's four people singing it. She said it wouldn't work without the four in it." Rick waved goodbye and disappeared into the crowd.  
  
Qui-Gon turned to Mace and asked, "Do you want to stay?"  
  
"I'll trust your judgement of when it's time to leave."  
  
The two Masters headed into the crowd of bouncing bodies and looked around to see if there was anyone else there they knew. There was Martin Riggs and Blackburn dancing off to the side, with the rest of the Jedi and Dawn and Troi were there as well. Qui-Gon saw Sitya dancing with Ron and Harry in the middle of the dance floor.  
  
Qui-Gon and Mace found a relatively sparsely populated area and sat down. It seemed that all the students of Hogwarts were there and still more coming in. Even though he sometimes disagreed with the three girls, he had to admit that they knew how to get everyone to have fun. He assumed it was the girls who had made this last minute party, since they were the only ones who had the equipment to pull something like this off.  
  
Finally after an hour he saw Obi-Wan gesture to Dawn and Troi and made his way over to where he saw Lara Croft standing. They stood talking for a short while and then Obi-Wan left the group and made his way to where Sitya was. He watched with interest as Obi-Wan started talking to her, well yelling was more like it to be heard over the noise. First her expression was of annoyance, then confusion and then scarcely masked horror. She began shaking her head, but Obi-Wan grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards the waiting women.  
  
He spoke briefly to them and jumped up to the equipment on the professor's platform, which was blaring the music, waiting for the song to finish he turned it off. The crowd stopped moving and looked over to where he was standing waiting for an explanation. He didn't wait long. "Sorry everyone, but there's a slight change in plans," the crowd groaned thinking the party over, "there's going to be a live performance from four very talent young ladies. May I present Sitya, Dawn, Troi and Lara."  
  
The four climbed up onto the stage, Sitya looking absolutely terrified and the others looking totally fine. They waited for a second and then a picture came up and woman on the projection said, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Moulin Rouge."  
  
  
  
[Lil'Kim]LARA  
  
Where's all mah soul sistas  
  
Lemme hear ya'll flow sistas  
  
[Mya]DAWN  
  
Hey sista, go sista, soul sista, flow sista  
  
Hey sista, go sista, soul sista, go sista  
  
He met Marmalade down in old Moulin Rouge  
  
Struttin' her stuff on the street  
  
She said 'Hello, hey Joe, you wanna give it a go?'  
  
[all]  
  
Giuchie, giuchie ya ya dada (hey hey hey)  
  
Giuchie giuchie ya ya here (here)  
  
Mocha chocalata ya ya (oh yeah)  
  
Creole lady Marmalade  
  
Voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir  
  
Voulez vous couchez avec moi  
  
[Pink]TROI  
  
He sat in her boudoir while she freshened up  
  
Boy drank all that Magnolia wine  
  
On her black satin sheets is where he started to freak  
  
Yeah  
  
[all]  
  
Giuchie, giuchie ya ya dada (da-da-da)  
  
Giuchie giuchie ya ya here (here ohooh yea yeah)  
  
Mocha chocalata ya ya (yea)  
  
Creole lady Marmalade  
  
Voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir (ce soir, what what what)  
  
Voulez vous couchez avec moi  
  
[Lil'Kim]LARA  
  
yea yea uh  
  
He come through with the money and the garter bags  
  
I let him know we bout that cake straight up the gate uh  
  
We independent women, some mistake us for whores  
  
I'm sayin', why spend mine when I can spend yours  
  
Disagree? Well that's you and I'm sorry  
  
Imma keep playing these cats out like Atari  
  
Wear ideal shoes get love from the dudes  
  
For bad ass chicks from the Moulin Rouge  
  
[all]  
  
hey sistas, soul sistas, btta get that dough sistas  
  
[Lil'Kim]LARA  
  
We drink wine with diamonds in the glass  
  
By the case the meaning of expensive taste  
  
If you wanna giuchie, giuchie, ya ya  
  
Mocha chocalata- a what/  
  
Real lady Marmaalade  
  
One more time c'mon now  
  
[all]  
  
Marmalade…lady Marmalade…Marmalade  
  
[Christina]SITYA  
  
hey hey hey!  
  
Touch of her skin feeling silky smooth  
  
Color of café au lait alright  
  
Made the savage beast inside roar until he cried  
  
[all]  
  
More-more-more  
  
[Pink] TROI  
  
Now he's back home doin' 9 to 5  
  
[Mya] DAWN  
  
Sleepin' the grey flannel life  
  
[Christina] SITYA  
  
But when he turns off to sleep memories creep,  
  
[all]  
  
More-more-more  
  
Giuchie, giuchie ya ya dada (da daeaea yea)  
  
Giuchie giuchie ya ya here (ohh)  
  
Mocha chocalata ya ya (yeah)  
  
Creole lady Marmalade  
  
Voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir (ce soir)  
  
Voulez vous couchez avec moi (all my sistas yea)  
  
Voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir (ce soir)  
  
Voulez vous couchez avec moi (c'mon! uh)  
  
[Missy]  
  
Christina…(oh Leaeaa Oh)-SITYA  
  
Pink… (Lady Marmalade)- TROI  
  
Lil'Kim… (hey hey! Uh uh uh uh)-LARA  
  
Mya… (Oh oh oo)- DAWN  
  
Rot wailer baby… (baby)  
  
Moulin Rouge… (Oh!)  
  
Misdemeanor here…  
  
[all]  
  
Creole Lady Marmalade. Yes-ah…  
  
  
  
As the four ladies continued singing, Qui-Gon and Mace looked at each other. "What is this?" Mace asked, watching the four people on stage and the four on the projection.  
  
Qui-Gon looked at his friend, "Mace my dear friend, I think we're getting old." Looking over toward the three other Jedi who stood with Harry and Ron, all had a comical expression on their faces as the girls on stage danced, coordinating their movements to that of the ones on screen. The dance was rather exotic and Qui-Gon thought it a small blessing that everything on the music video wasn't being shown live, for example, the costumes. Other than that it was a pretty good dance and when finished everyone stood clapping and congratulating as the four ladies stepped off the temporary stage.  
  
Sitya sauntered over to Obi-Wan. "There I did it. We're even now."  
  
Obi-Wan taken aback by the display that just finished stared at her and finally replied, "That was just a small step. As I recall, you had me go in little steps too. So I'm going to be doing the same thing to you." Obi-Wan smiled as Sitya scowled and walked over to where Harry and Ron were standing.  
  
Qui-Gon caught Obi-Wan's eye and gestured him over. "What was that all about?" he pointed to the vacated stage.  
  
"It was just part of the dare Sitya and I had made. Remember she dared me into doing the bungee jump and I get to test her fears."  
  
Mace interrupted. "Was it doing something like that?"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Moving like that?"  
  
Obi-Wan blushed. "Well, no. Troi was the one who picked out the music. I don't know what's good music on this planet and what's not," he defended himself.  
  
"What was the song called?" Qui-Gon asked before Mace could get anything else in.  
  
"Troi said 'Lady Marmalade,' from a musical movie that opened just recently."  
  
Qui-Gon nodded. "I would prefer next time when you do this, that you ask what kind of lyrics or dance moves are involved."  
  
Obi-Wan bowed his head. "Yes Master. May I go back?"  
  
Qui-Gon waved his hand and Obi-Wan disappeared.  
  
The two Masters sat in silence for a while and then Mace remarked. "I certainly hope that when and if they come to the Jedi Temple, they leave their so called music behind."  
  
Qui-Gon laughed. "Mace, we're just getting old," he stood and offered a retreat, which Mace accepted gratefully.  
  
  
  
The next morning everyone was assembled in what could be termed as the basement of Hogwarts. With the exception of the 'young' people everyone was wide-awake and busily moving about preparing for departure. Qui-Gon had questioned Obi-Wan of his and the others lack of energy and had found out that the party had gone on well into the night, technically it was early morning. With only a few hours of sleep to catch before having to wake up and get ready to leave. Silently Qui-Gon chuckled; a lesson on a good night's rest was well learned when someone did not get one. Hopefully this sort of incident would not happen again.  
  
The room which the group was gathered was large and spacious, not large like the Great Hall, but much more grand. Being underground and presumably next to or under the great lake, it was damp, but no means chilly. Everyone was working with no jacket or protective covering whatsoever. All the equipment was being assembled in front of a large circle shaped object. It had strange markings along the edges and had a massive hole in the center, for what purpose that served he had no idea, but he had a feeling he would find out.  
  
"I don't see how this place can be here, it's not in any of the text books, from the library or from expanded reading. Never have I heard of this place existing." Hermoine was whining. She had been saying this for quite a while, ever since they had first stepped into the room, Qui-Gon remembered.  
  
"Hermoine would you be quiet!" Ron said. "Not everything is in books, sometimes you have to go somewhere to find things out. Not just by having your nose stuffed into a book in a corner."  
  
Hermoine became silent at the remark and looked around for something to do.  
  
Seeing this exchange Headmaster Dumbledore came over to the two. "It is true that sometimes there is a need to journey to find information," he directed at Hermoine. "But there are also times where the greatest knowledge is preserved in books and it is useful to know how and where to look for that knowledge," this he directed at Ron. "And sometimes, there is a reason why things are not written down or disclosed."  
  
Qui-Gon nodded, well put.  
  
Draco jumped into the conversation. "You mean no other training wizard has been down here?"  
  
"That is correct. But don't think that you will be allowed to disclose the location or lead others here. There can be terrible results if that were to happen and we have a way of finding out who leaked the secret."  
  
All the wizards in the room stopped to think of what may happen if they did indeed lead someone else to this secret room.  
  
After another two hours of moving around, Mace finally declared that everything was ready and it was time to leave.  
  
Jack presented a question. "But Master, where?"  
  
Mace smiled and proposed a question to answer Jack's "What do you see Jack?"  
  
"A bunch of damp rocks and a funny looking circle thing with weird writings."  
  
Mace Windu nodded. "Very observant Jack," he turned to Headmaster Dumbledore. "Would you mind explaining?"  
  
"Of course not." Dumbledore stepped in front of the large circle structure and waited for everyone else to settle down and allow him to explain the device. "This mechanism was first developed from a extinct race. They were very long-lived but their numbers were always small and they never reached a population of over 100 peoples. Though small they were extremely powerful and stretched out their influences beyond their own solar system to others. Including this one. It was first brought here during the time of the Ancient Egyptians, the race was all-powerful and searched to conquer and suppress them into servitude. They rebelled and fought against them. They won and buried this device hoping it would not be found again. In 1914 it was found again and placed in storage. Throughout the years scientists have been researching its significance until finally it was found that it was an actual doorway to other planets in other solar systems, a 'Stargate' if you will. The military were the ones who funded the research and the use of it through the years and decided it best for it to be hidden from sight." Dumbledore waved toward Blackburn. "Private Blackburn has had experience by traveling through the Stargate and will be in charge of making sure everything is in readiness for us to depart and for us to come back once the mission is complete. And I do believe that everything is ready and it is time to leave."  
  
Blackburn moved over to the Stargate and stood in front of a raised rock mound that was beside it. He started to press various parts, which lit up showing a symbol after he touched them. After about 5 places where lit up the grounds started to shake and finally after the last symbol was lit the Stargate shuddered and a watery tunnel burst out in front of them and then as if being sucked back in it turned in the other direction and stayed there. Blackburn stepped away and shouted to the gathered group before him. "I'll go first and then everyone else will follow. It's gonna be a rough ride with ups and downs and you may feel disorientated when you finish. That's natural and will only take awhile to pass."  
  
Blackburn walked up to the 'Gate and stepped into the tunnel. He vanished and some started muttering about the sudden disappearance.  
  
Everyone followed, along with the equipment and at last the Jedi, Dawn and Troi and Sitya were the only ones left.  
  
Troi was looking uneasily at their current form of transportation. "I don't like roller coaster rides," she stated.  
  
Jack took her hand and started walking up toward the 'Gate. "C'mon. It'll be alright, it only lasts for a second." Dragging Troi he pulled her through before she could say or do anything else.  
  
Mace, Rick, and Dawn left next. And Sitya, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were left standing alone.  
  
"If you puke on me in that thing, I'll kill you." Sitya said to Obi- Wan.  
  
The three made their way to the 'Gate and stepped into it.  
  
  
  
It was indeed a fast and turning ride, but also fast and merciless. The last trio made it to Middle-Earth and the Stargate closed.  
  
"I don't feel so good." Obi-Wan moaned.  
  
"Suck it up princess!" Sitya snarled showing no sympathy. She bent over to grab some of her equipment and Obi-Wan puked all over her. "You little POS! I'm gonna kill you!" shrieking, Sitya moved to grab her gun, but was easily caught by Qui-Gon. Sitya started cursing at him, but Qui-Gon held on to her easily. "I warned him!" she directed at Qui-Gon.  
  
"Yes you did. But as I recall you said you would kill him when you were in the Stargate."  
  
Sitya paused, thinking of what Qui-Gon had said. "So what, he still barfed on me!"  
  
Qui-Gon rolled his eyes and saw that Obi-Wan was grinning on Sitya's behalf. "You know I think I feel much more better now."  
  
That set Sitya off again, but this time Qui-Gon let go and Sitya flew at Obi-Wan and gave him a solid right hook on the jaw. "Don't you ever do that to me again!"  
  
Sitya moved on to where she could hear the others talking, leaving Master and Padawan alone.  
  
Obi-Wan slowly got up and faced his Master. "Why weren't you holding her?" rubbing his jaw he gave a hurt look.  
  
"Sometimes it is better to learn a lesson from someone other than your teacher. You were goading her on and I did not feel like protecting you from the consequences of your actions. Learn from your mistakes."  
  
The Jedi moved to where the rest of group was gathered watching an approaching escort on horses below them. They stood on a hill overlooking a gorge with a large river flowing through it. The riders were coming from their left, following a wide trail up to their position. The majority of the riders were tall and fair faced, looking like humans, but feeling different somehow. There were in fact humans among them, along with what looked like smaller versions of them.  
  
Dawn was looking at Sitya. "What is that all over you and why do you stink?"  
  
Sitya turned and glared at Obi-Wan. "It was compliments of wonderboy over there."  
  
Finally the ones on horses reached the visitors and a tall man, along with a few others came forward and greeted them. "We have been expecting you for some time." He said to Mace.  
  
"We arrived as soon as was possible." He returned.  
  
The tall man nodded. "You must be tired and hungry. Come we will have an afternoon feast and we will discuss what is to happen next. But first we will get your things together and show you to your rooms. And maybe find some clean clothing." He added as he glanced at Sitya, who in turn scowled and pointed to Obi-Wan.  
  
"It was all him."  
  
The man laughed. "Come, let us go to Rivendell and there you can clean up and eat."  
  
People moved forward with extra horses and bade the visitors to ride with them.  
  
"Wait, what about my stuff?" Lara asked.  
  
"Do not worry it will be taken care of."  
  
She eyed him doubtfully. "Some of it's pretty big and heavy."  
  
The man laughed again. "It will be taken care of."  
  
  
  
Sitya was tugging at the dress that she was wearing. "You know what? I feel really uncomfortable."  
  
"I think they're fine." Dawn said as she straightened her neckline.  
  
"You only like them because you finally get that medieval thing going on."  
  
The three girls were gathered in Dawn's chambers looking at their newly acquired clothes, which were in fact long, full dresses. Dawn was wearing a soft purple dress, which by all means was beautiful. In fact all three dresses were beautiful, it was just the pBoblem of some being more comfortable in them than others. Troi's was a pale blue and Sitya's was green. All were the same design and they looked very much like the dresses that they have seen on the other folk when they first arrived at Rivendell.  
  
"Would you rather go to the feast dressed like a total off-worlder. You would stick out like a sore thumb. Besides, if you would have packed more clothes you would have had something else to change into."  
  
"Oh guys, come over here! They've got a whole bunch of funky little makeup things!" Troi was at the dresser in the room and was shifting through its contents. She picked up a bottle and sniffed it. "This one smells good." She thrust the bottle in Sitya's face who immediately backed away.  
  
"I hope they don't expect us to wear any of that stuff."  
  
"By no means do we expect you to." A being said from the doorway. She was tall and what had been introduced as an elf, she had dark hair and eyes with pale smooth skin and wore an off-white dress, styled very much the same as their own. "But we also don't forbid the use of them either."  
  
"Sitya wouldn't know how to open a bottle of perfume." Troi added helpfully.  
  
"Thanks so much of pointing out my shortcomings." Sitya wryly said.  
  
The tall dark elf smiled. "My name is Arwen." Dawn made a move to introduce themselves, but Arwen stopped her. "There is no need to introduce yourselves, everyone in Rivendell and in fact everyone in Middle-Earth knows who you are."  
  
"How?" Dawn asked.  
  
The elf smiled again. "That will be revealed among other things at the meeting after the feast, I will leave it 'til then. Now the reason that I am here is to see if you are ready to depart." The three girls nodded. "Very well then, follow me."  
  
They were led through winding staircases and gradually got closer to where noises could be heard and presumably where the feast was being held. It seemed they were the last of the initial group to arrive at the feast, everyone was there and everyone was dressed in some form of the style of this world. The Jedi where the first to come over and greet them.  
  
Qui-Gon spoke first, "You three look lovely." That comment was answered with a snort from Sitya's direction.  
  
Obi-Wan came up and eyed Sitya. "You know, I've never been able to picture you in a dress and when I tried really hard you always looked awful."  
  
Sitya stalked up to him so that they were nose to nose. "Just because I'm wearing a dress, am almost completed restricted to small movements with my legs, does not mean my hands and therefore my fists are not operational."  
  
She waited for him to reply and he did in the most unimaginable way possible, he laughed. "C'mon let's go dance."  
  
Sitya's jaw dropped and Obi-Wan led her away onto the dance floor.  
  
Jack shifted restlessly and turned to Troi, "Do you want to dance too?" She nodded and the two of them also disappeared into the crowd.  
  
That left Dawn and Rick looking at each other. "I don't think so." She said and then moved away toward a group of conversing elves.  
  
As she talked with the elves she marveled at their way of life and their great knowledge. 'I wish I could live here,' she thought. Interrupted in her thoughts by a small tugging on her skirt, she looked over and then down. Two little miniature humans where standing at her side and looking up.  
  
"Hello!" one said cheerfully.  
  
Dawn eyed them warily and said slowly, "Hello."  
  
One of the elves in the conversing group saw the new addition. "Well, hello Ringbearer. And I see your trusty sidekick is also here. What took you little halflings so long and please don't tell me you got lost." He turned to Dawn. "May I present Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee. Both will be accompanying you on your journey."  
  
The one named Frodo spoke up. "Have you forgotten already that you too are going on that journey as well. Or has your thousands of years caught up to you Legolas?"  
  
The elf laughed. "Always making fun of my age are you? Well no matter, with age comes wisdom."  
  
The other little man, Sam spoke. "I was wondering if there were any stories from your world which you could tell us. Us Hobbits love a good story and are always ready to sit and listen if one were to come across their path."  
  
Dawn thought a minute and then finally nodded. "Yes there is one." She gathered her thoughts and tried to remember everything of the tale. "There once was an ugly ogre, who lived by himself in a smelly swamp. Until one day he met a donkey and that is where their adventure begins…"  
  
  
  
Jack and Troi had made their way to a balcony overlooking the immense waterfall that pounded into the surface below.  
  
Troi sighed. "You know I wish I could stay here for a while. Everything is so natural and peaceful, so different from my world, where everyone is busy rushing around trying to get things done.  
  
Jack nodded in agreement. "The differences from my world are the same as well. Everything done my machinery and everything made of steel. There is nothing left of the natural environment. But you must remember why we are here. There is a great turmoil all over Middle-Earth I can feel it."  
  
"I can feel something as well, something odd, but I can still feel something."  
  
"With training you will be able to sense more and also understand." Jack paused. "Maybe when everything here is finished you could come to the Jedi Temple and train there."  
  
"With you?"  
  
He hesitated. "I've just recently received the rank of Jedi Knight, along with Rick and Obi-Wan is not that far behind. But there are many Masters there and other Knights that are more skilled than me and would be glad to teach you."  
  
"Maybe. Let's get back to the feast in case there's anything missing."  
  
  
  
Sitya had soon got bored of the dancing and suggested they explore.  
  
"Are you sure it's alright if we go this way?" Obi-Wan whispered. The two where standing behind an immense pillar and looking out into the open hall beyond.  
  
Sitya gave a look of impatience, "Why are you whispering?" she said loudly. "Besides, what are you, some kind of momma's boy?"  
  
"Am not!" he hissed.  
  
"Well then, come on." Sitya stepped out from behind the pillar and started walking down the hall. Obi-Wan reluctantly trailing behind her.  
  
"Race you to the end!" Sitya shouted and took off. This time Obi-Wan followed without hesitation. Both ran full speed through the hall, but before the race was over they collided into something which they hadn't seen that was in the way.  
  
Sitya and Obi-Wan landed on their butts and stared at the obstacle, which was also staring back. There where actually two of them.  
  
"Yipes!" cried one. "I think I broke one!" the figure stood up and revealed a little man frantically picking up objects surrounding the fallen people.  
  
"Hurry Pip, hurry. We don't want Gandalf catching us like last time." He turned to Obi-Wan and Sitya. "Hello! I'm Merry and that's Pippin," he gestured to the scuttling figure. "You two are some of the people who arrived today aren't you?" Both nodded.  
  
"What are you doing?" Sitya questioned.  
  
"Fireworks. From Gandalf's supplies." He explained. "Gandalf only uses them for special occasions and we wanted to blow one up now."  
  
Sitya moved over closer to the little man. "Where are you going to do it?"  
  
Obi-Wan came up beside her. "Sitya, I don't think it's a good idea to get involved with this." Sitya ignored him.  
  
The scurrying figure stopped and spoke. "We're going on the other side of the feasting area to a dip in the city. There's lots of room there and no one should see us."  
  
"What some help?"  
  
"Sitya!"  
  
"Live a little!"  
  
Merry nodded his head. "You can take one of the bigger ones, it's heavy for us and we can't move very fast carrying it." He handed a large red firework to Sitya and then found another one and handed it Obi-Wan.  
  
He was about to hand it back when he was nudged in the ribs by Sitya. "C'mon, you only live once."  
  
The group of four went down a number of steps and the little halflings led them to a wide clear area.  
  
"This is where we'll set up." Pippin instructed.  
  
They unloaded their burdens and started setting up the fireworks in a row.  
  
Merry paused surveying the construction. "Let's start on the left, so we can save the best for last." He pointed to the big red one.  
  
Pippin nodded and went to start the first firework. All the fireworks were fantastic, colorful and bright. They were about to light the last red one when a towering figure was seen marching towards them.  
  
The two halflings leapt back, "It's Gandalf!"  
  
Pippin still holding the lit match, started backing away.  
  
"What are you doing? Sitya hissed.  
  
"Gandalf's coming to punish us." He moaned  
  
Sitya grabbed the match, "Well since we're in trouble anyway, we may as well go all the way." She lit the red one, which whooshed up into the sky. And exploded into multiple little dragons, all of them in different colors.  
  
At last the towering man reached them, "I thought you would have learned your lessons from the time before," he bit out.  
  
Both of the little ones were silent and stood staring at the man.  
  
Sitya interrupted, "Excuse me, sir, but Merry and Pippin thought it was part of the entertainment for tonight. We saw them," she pointed to Obi- Wan and herself, "and we decided to help them. I must say that they were marvelous, don't you think?"  
  
The man stared down at her, "Yes I suppose they were and everyone at the feast enjoyed them."  
  
Sitya looked sharply at the two little ones, and Obi-Wan whispered "I thought you said no one would be able to see them." He was answered by a pair of sheepish shrugs.  
  
Gandalf moved back and studied the group, "The main feast is about to begin," he stated and started walking back to where he had came.  
  
Pippin and Merry stood staring at the retreating figure, "He's not going to punish us!" Merry said astonished.  
  
Pippin had completely forgotten about the incident and started tugging on his new friend's arms, "C'mon! There's gonna be food!"  
  
  
  
The sound of birds chirping awoke Troi, she groaned and rolled over, only to have the rising sun blast her in the face. She groaned again and sat up, well she was awake now, so she may as well get up. Troi threw on some clothes and went to see if her friends were up. Sitya's room was empty and she found her in Dawn's room, gingerly trying to wake a knocked out Dawn.  
  
Sitya sighed in frustration and saw Troi in the doorway. "I don't know what's wrong with her, she won't wake up." Sitya started shaking Dawn and then got fed up and pushed her off the bed.  
  
"What the…!"  
  
Sitya went and stood beside her. "Glad your awake. I was wondering when you'd get up."  
  
Dawn took in her surroundings. "Why am I on the floor?"  
  
Sitya shrugged. "Fell off it when you were sleeping?" she suggested. "Anyway, glad you're up because the head huncho elf guy, Elrond, has called a meeting and we have to be there in about 30 minutes."  
  
Dawn nodded and went to get dressed when she finished she came back and asked how their time at the feast had went.  
  
"Jack and I talked about going to the Jedi Temple and me training to use my Jedi skills, we danced and ate together."  
  
"I bet that's not the only thing you guys talked about. You pBobably got all mushy on each other too."  
  
Troi patiently tried to explain. "Sitya, when a boy and a girl talk, it doesn't always lead to 'mushy' stuff as you so elegantly put it. Besides I seem to recall you dancing with Obi-Wan and I saw you two disappear for a while. What was that all about?"  
  
Sitya shuffled her feet. "Well, um, the dancing part went okay. I only stepped on his feet five times." Her friends sniggered and she glared at them. "Hey, at least I'm improving. Last time it was closer to a hundred with that bloke from that ballroom dancing class. And that little 'disappearance' was just me being bored out of my mind and deciding to do some exploring. Obi-Wan just decided to tag along. We met some new people, well, Hobbits as they are called and we set off some fireworks."  
  
"Yeah we saw those all right."  
  
Dawn nodded. "I liked the purple one that did all those little spinning things real fast."  
  
Sitya grimaced. "You guys weren't exactly to see those and we almost got in trouble when that Gandalf wizard came down. Luckily he didn't get too mad and let us off the hook."  
  
"Well I talked to a bunch of elves and I think they're so cool. There's one called Legolas and Frodo and Sam, two other Hobbits, said that he would be going on the mission too. You guys should see him. He's like pretty."  
  
"You like pretty boys?" Sitya asked.  
  
"No, it's just that he's… pretty."  
  
Sitya gave a skeptical look and then looked at her watch. "I think we better get going."  
  
Having been familiarized with the city the girls had no trouble finding their way to what was called the Council Hall. It wasn't really a Hall, but an open terrace having a spectacular view of the river and falls below. It consisted of what looked to be about 30 chairs, arranged in a circle with a short, squat pillar in the middle. A crowd had already gathered on the platform, but not everyone was there. The people who were there stood in-groups of five or six and were chatting about what was about to happen. Who would be going where, how far they were to travel and when they suspected they would be done.  
  
Dawn pointed out Legolas and when she did he saw her in return and started walking over towards them, along with the four Hobbits.  
  
"That's pretty boy?" Sitya asked.  
  
Dawn hissed, "Yes it is and please don't call him that."  
  
"Call me what?" Legolas asked, coming up behind Dawn.  
  
Sitya didn't let her answer. "Pretty boy."  
  
"Pretty boy?" he looked confused. Legolas turned to Dawn, "Is that what you called me?" she shook her head and then he turned to Sitya. "Why would you call me a pretty boy? By no means am I a boy. I've surpassed that stage even if I was human. I'm thousands of years old."  
  
Sitya shrugged.  
  
"So why do you call me a pretty boy?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe it's a nickname."  
  
Legolas smiled. "Well then, I would be honored to have a nickname given to me by one of the 'Guardians'."  
  
The three girls looked at each other, 'what the heck was a 'Guardian''?  
  
Pippin was pulling on Sitya's arm, trying to get her attention. "Can I have a nickname too?" he asked.  
  
"Maybe later shorty."  
  
"Shorty! I like it."  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes.  
  
After a few more minutes everyone else was assembled and Elrond asked for everyone to be seated. He started right off, "It seems that we are running very short on time," he declared. All people from Middle-Earth tensed at this and sucked in their breath. "Sauron has already deployed his Ringwraiths in search of the three stones," the people tensed even more.  
  
The three girls looked at each other 'what exactly was this all about' they thought.  
  
"It seems that we have little more time to prepare and we must leave tonight or earlier instead of the scheduled time of tomorrow morning. A group of elves have worked all night preparing your equipment and is ready to go. There is no time for formal introductions of everyone and we will break into our groups and be on our way." The Middle-Earthians nodded in agreement. "But first," he turned to the visitors, "I'm sure our guest would like to know what exactly is going on."  
  
Dawn muttered, "You bet."  
  
Sitya leaned over and whispered, "I thought the sarcastic remarks are supposed to come from me."  
  
"You're a bad influence."  
  
Elrond continued. "Sauron, the ruler of Mordor, is in search of three powerful stones each on one corner of Middle-Earth, north, east and west. They hold power and will grant their power to ever who holds them. The stones themselves are not evil; it's just the way in which they are used. They can grant power for good and grant power for evil. It's the soul or the will of who ever holds them."  
  
Grissom asked a question, "Why three stones?"  
  
"Individually the stones hold power, collectively they are more powerful. Sauron has already lost one of his sources of power, due to the Fellowship of the Ring, and the individual efforts of the Ringbearer." He gestured to Frodo and inclined his head, in thanks. "Sauron is still very much alive and still in search of power. These three stones are what is closest to the power which he had before. Destroy them and it will in part destroy those who have invested their power in search to posses and control them. In his search Sauron has already worked magic to bind himself to the stones, he will be vulnerable when the stones are destroyed and he himself could be destroyed." Elrond sighed and then continued. "It has been asked by others that this mission be expanded and I would ask for you travelers to consider the request. It has been asked that the stones not only be destroyed, but Sauron as well."  
  
People from Middle-Earth looked at each other in amazement. To have Sauron eliminated and gone from this world would be like a dream come true. Never to worry what the Dark Lord was planning or being always in readiness for war.  
  
Elrond proceeded to talk. "However, I think the question should be mainly put to those who will be most involved in the task of carrying the stones and who will be most in danger." He turned to Dawn, Sitya and Troi. "You three will be carrying the stones and you three will be in the most danger. You three are the 'Guardians' and are asked to rid of us of Sauron forever."  
  
The whole assembly looked expectantly at the girls and all three of them shifted uncomfortably.  
  
Sitya spoke first, "Well that's all nice and everything, you guys asking us to do this," she sort of thought about that for a moment and then said, "I think. But what exactly are the 'Guardians' and what on earth or Middle-Earth or whatever are they supposed to do?"  
  
Elrond nodded, "A fair question. Through prophecy and just plain lore and myths, there is spoken that there will rise three 'Guardians' that will shape and protect our world. Providing help to those who need it. You have the strength to overcome the stones power and not be controlled by it."  
  
Mace spoke when Elrond was finished. "Basically freedom fighters or fighters against evil, whichever you prefer."  
  
Troi then asked a question, "What makes you think we're these 'Guardians'?"  
  
"Prophecies have spoken of the exploits which the 'Guardians' will face and through the records we have of what you three have done points to the fact that you are indeed them."  
  
"What prophecies? Where do they come from?"  
  
Elrond continued again. "They are found everywhere. Middle-Earth, your home world and even from where the Jedi are from." He looked at each of them in turn. "Will you help us?"  
  
Feeling the tense moment and not liking it Sitya said, "Sure, why not? Let's go put our lives in danger, becoming targets for basically everyone that wants power. It's not like this has never happened before." She became serious again. "Yes. I will help you."  
  
"I'm in too." Dawn put in.  
  
The two girls looked at Troi. "Do I have to? I mean I really want to see what happens on 'Days of Our Lives'." She broke into a grin and the three laughed.  
  
Elrond looked slightly confused. "Does this mean you will help us?"  
  
The girls stopped laughing just long enough to say "Yes" at the same time and then start laughing again. The whole assembly didn't know what they were laughing at and neither did the three girls anyway.  
  
  
  
Everyone left and went to gather where all the equipment had been moved, ready for them to depart.  
  
Elrond stood aside and announced he would separate them into their groups. The girls already knew they would be traveling without each other and were a bit worried about not being able to rely on each other like they usually did on their missions. They stood apart wanting to be alone with each other until they absolutely had to leave.  
  
"I will start with the group that is to go north. Dawn, Harry Tasker, Gimli, Frodo, Sam, Arwen, Blackburn, Rick, Grissom, Mace Windu and myself. To the west goes Troi, Ron, Harry, Hermoine, John McClane, Aragorn, Qui-Gon Jinn, Jack, Professor Dumbledore, Blade and Indiana Jones. To the east, Sitya, Lara Croft, Martin Riggs, Gandalf, Kahlan, Richard, Zedd, Merry, Pippin, Merry, Legolas and Draco."  
  
The groups went to gather with each other and the girls took one last moment to talk.  
  
"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you guys soon." Dawn said.  
  
"Remember, don't do anything stupid before grad." Troi put in helpfully.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm not going to grad." Sitya pointed out. All had had this conversation before and knew she was only kidding.  
  
Each looked at each other. "Hey. C'mon, it's not like we've never done this sort of thing before. We've walked away from stuff like this. Well except for those few occasions where we spent about a week in the hospital."  
  
Dawn nodded remembering that incident where each had sustained a large number of injuries. "Yeah. Let's not do that again." They shared a nervous laugh.  
  
Troi gestured to the groups. "I guess it's time to go." They gave each other a hug and walked toward their designated group.  
  
  
  
Troi looked at the thing in amazement, "You brought the Batmobile!"  
  
Blade looked at the heavy-duty vehicle in question. "I wasn't going to come unprepared. Besides," he gestured to the other groups, "the other groups have at least one as well, although not the same as mine." He turned to Troi, "Here do something useful and start packing it with the supplies."  
  
"Is everything going to fit in that thing, including us? And what about gas?"  
  
"There is no need for gas. And there is more than one vehicle. Like the other vehicles that were brought here, there was some magic done to them, so they can run without gas. There is a limit to how much work it can do, but it should last for the whole mission if we are careful. It's bigger than it actually looks and can fit a great deal more in it than the supplies and ourselves. Although it may become uncomfortable for sleeping. I suggest you make sure you have your sleeping gear so you can sleep outside.  
  
Troi started to help by placing the gear in the vehicle and saw the others doing the same in the other groups. After half an hour, the groups were ready and set off in their general directions of north, east, and west.  
  
  
  
After traveling until the sun was almost set, the northern group stopped and decided to set up camp. The group had traveled a great distance and those from Middle-Earth were amazed that something that traveled along the ground was faster than a horse. However the group had been told that the vehicles would not last the entire time and horses or some other form of transportation would have to be found.  
  
Blackburn had mostly driven the entire time, and without any further instructions of where the stone may be found, he just followed the mountains on their right side that led north as well.  
  
Elrond had explained that the mountains they were now following were called the 'Misty Mountains' and they would lead into the 'Mountains of Angmar' where the chain of mountains turn to the west.  
  
Frodo also told the story of his Uncle Bilbo who had journeyed through the Misty Mountains on an adventure and had come across the 'One Ring'. Dawn had thought it a fascinating story and everyone was grateful for something to listen to that was entertaining. Frodo, along with the help of Sam, told their own story of their journey into Mordor to destroy the 'One Ring.' Those stories had taken up half the day and after they were finished, they had stopped for awhile to get a bit to eat.  
  
They had resumed after eating and continued on for another 5 hours, with periodic breaks, to stretch their cramped muscles. The rest of the journey was spent with Elrond and Arwen, teaching the new comers some of the elfish language. Frodo, Sam and even Gimli had joined in the lesson at one time or another, either to learn or tell them an elfish word that they thought was particularly funny.  
  
The visitors were amazingly quick with picking up on the elfish words, especially Dawn and Rick. The only ones who had trouble with the language were Harry Tasker and Mace Windu. They kept trying to pronounce one word and said another, then when they tried to repeat the word they had just spoken, they said something was not even intelligible.  
  
The group set up camp near a densely packed, though small group of trees. They decided they would camp outside with their sleeping gear, since Elrond said it would be a lovely night, not cold or raining.  
  
They also decided they would search for food and firewood instead of using their reserves, just in case something may happen that would require their stores.  
  
Dawn set out to gather firewood with Arwen and Grissom also decided to come as well. He said that he wanted to see the 'bugs' of this planet and compare them to the ones on Earth.  
  
Arwen gave further instructions to Dawn on the different names of the plants and animals of Middle-Earth and even started teaching her some sentences. The elf and the young lady continued on deeper into the woods to find more firewood. Grissom had stopped further back, closer to the camp and was hunched over a piece of earth, studying something that was scuttling around.  
  
"Is there anything in here that would be poisonous or dangerous to someone?" Dawn asked.  
  
Arwen shook her head. "No. There really isn't anything here that would be dangerous. This group of trees is too small to house any large predators and there is nothing really small and dangerous that lives in this area."  
  
They got back, set up the fire and Elrond came back with a few rabbits for dinner. Grissom was sitting on a tree stump holing something in his. Dawn came over with his supper and saw what he was holding. It was a very large and hairy animal with many legs.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked.  
  
He looked up at her, "This is an amazing little bug. Look how it moves, I wonder which end is the head?" He started moving the insect around in his hand, turning it so he could get light on the places he wanted to inspect. "It would be incredible to be able to take this back with me and study it."  
  
Dawn gave a little shutter. 'What is so interesting about creepy crawly things.' She made a mental note to sleep as far away from Grissom as she possibly could.  
  
  
  
Troi's group made their way along a forest, but did not enter it. Darkness fell quickly on the traveler's so they did not set up the more elaborate camp as did Dawn's group. They figured that they had the largest distance to travel and would rather to just wake up in the morning and leave. Aragorn led them in a western direction, as he did not know the specific location of the stones either.  
  
Troi moved about restlessly. Everyone was doing something and she had asked if they needed any help, but the answer was a 'no'. She had enough and walked to one of the 'batmobiles' she climbed in and started searching for something to cook. Everyone else was doing something, but cooking dinner and no one seemed inclined to make it anyway.  
  
She got some herbs, meats and vegetables from the food stores. She didn't want to go out to the forest since she didn't know what would be in there, and she didn't even know what was safe to eat anyway.  
  
Indy walked over and sat down next to her. "What are you making?"  
  
Troi shrugged. "Stew, I think."  
  
Jack walked over and sat down on her other side. "Don't worry, everything she makes is good." He gave her a soft hug.  
  
Troi continued making dinner and the others went off to do their own thing, but Jack stayed beside her and they talked about what had happened so far and what may happen next.  
  
Troi leaned over and tasted the soup. She figured it was done and told the others so. They walked over hungry for food and got their bowls ready.  
  
Blade stood off to the side and didn't come over to get any food.  
  
Troi saw this and questioned him.  
  
"I prefer blood." He said.  
  
"Oh, well. I don't think I can help you there."  
  
Blade actually smiled, "It's alright. I brought my own."  
  
Jack spooned a large amount of soup onto his spoon and took a bite.  
  
"Careful…" Troi shouted.  
  
Jack gagged on the soup and everyone stared.  
  
"It's hot." She warned.  
  
Everyone else grunted and blew on their food very carefully.  
  
"Are you okay." She asked Jack concerned.  
  
"I will be if you give me a kiss."  
  
Troi obliged.  
  
  
  
Sitya's group wasn't making as much distance as were the other groups. They were making good time; it was just that they were stuck in the mountains, going up and down. Pippin had suggested a shortcut, like the one they took when they were to get rid of the 'One Ring', Gandalf had stared him down and said no with finality.  
  
Sitya asked Pippin, why they weren't taking the shortcut if there was one and Pippin, along with Merry and Legolas, explained what had happened the last time Gandalf and the 'Fellowship of the Ring' traveled under and through the mountains.  
  
Sitya listened fascinated, along with the other visitors. They were so overcome with curiosity that they asked Gandalf if there was any way that they could go through it.  
  
Pippin shook his head vehemently and declared the suggestion was just a joke to make conversation. He and the other Middle-Earth peoples said they would never go into those caves again.  
  
They made camp when they didn't think it would be safe to travel any longer. Their camp was shelter on three sides and had a slight overhang that would protect them from winds or rain. On the other side, the unprotected one, they set the vehicles so as to have more protection from the elements. A little ways off they got hear the sound of a gently rolling stream.  
  
Sitya wearily sat down, not because of walking; she had been stuck in a moving vehicle all day, but because of having to put up with Obi-Wan. She had promised herself she wouldn't let him get to her and she had kept that promise to the best of her ability, only bickering with him about five times throughout the day.  
  
The two other women in the group came over and sat down beside her. "Thought you might like some company." Kahlan said.  
  
Lara nodded. "Yeah, you look pretty beat." She stretched her legs. "What's wrong? It's not like we've been running for days on end."  
  
Sitya sighed. She couldn't believe she would actually say this to someone other than her friends, but what the heck. She didn't know when she was going to see them again. "It's him," she pointed to Obi-Wan setting up his sleeping gear. "He is absolutely annoying! And I try to be civil to him, but when I do we always end up fighting anyway. I have never met someone who is more irritating in my life." She finished and glared at the man in question.  
  
Lara looked to Kahlan and then spoke. "You know, that could be a sign that you like him."  
  
Sitya's mouth dropped open, "No way!"  
  
"It's true," she continued. "I've had similar feelings for people and later I found out that I liked them."  
  
"But, but. It's not always true is it? And, I mean, you never got married to one did you?  
  
Lara shook her head and Sitya gave a sigh of relief.  
  
Obi-Wan saw them looking at him and waved. 'What a dork.' Sitya thought. And then she became horrified when he started to walk towards them, but not before he got four bowls of diner.  
  
Kahlan moved over and made room for the young Jedi Knight, Sitya gave her a dirty look, but she smiled in return.  
  
Obi-Wan handed out the dinner and then too sat down. Everyone, but Sitya talked in the group of four and she didn't mind and sat back to eat her food.  
  
She didn't notice when the conversation stopped and she realized that Obi-Wan was looking at her. She also noticed that beside her, Lara was hiding a smirk behind her hand.  
  
"What?" Sitya asked.  
  
"'Voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir', what does it mean?"  
  
Sitya nearly choked on her dinner when he said that, she leaned over coughing. "What?" she repeated.  
  
Obi-Wan looked confused. "Isn't that one of the lines from the 'Lady Marmalade' song you sang at Hogwarts?"  
  
Sitya nodded slowly, "Yes."  
  
He became impatient, "What does it mean?"  
  
Sitya got even more uncomfortable; she looked over at Lara and saw she was leaning over and holding her sides, laughing slightly. "It um… 'will you sleep with me tonight.'"  
  
It was Obi-Wan's turn to look uncomfortable. "What!?"  
  
Sitya turned red, "No! I didn't mean it like that! That's what those words meant that's all!" She heard Lara burst out laughing, along with Kahlan, who now knew what the phrase meant. The rest of the group looked over to see what was going on. 'Now everyone is going to know.' She inwardly groaned. "I'm going to bed." She stood up and started over to her bedroll.  
  
Obi-Wan stood up behind her. "Me too." The two other women burst into renewed laughter and Sitya turned a beet red again.  
  
"No. You stay here and go to bed later." She bit out.  
  
She walked over to her bedroll and behind her she could still hear even more laughter as the others heard of what had happened.  
  
  
  
Dawn woke up and saw that she was the only one awake. She decided to go into the forest and collect more firewood, since they had used all they had last night. She started humming to herself, but had no idea what it was and it was starting to annoy her when she couldn't remember where she had heard it from. She bent over to pick up another piece of wood and all the wood she had collected fell out of her arms. "Oh, crap." She mumbled. She kneeled down and started collecting the wood again, when she was finished she got up and ran into something that wasn't there before and fell backwards, spilling her load again. "What the…?" she looked up and she saw what looked to be a very large tree trunk although it was a brilliant orange. 'That wasn't there before.' Her eyes followed upward and realized that the trunk was bridged together by a horizontal piece that was also connected to three other trunks. She also saw that one end had what looked to be a very nasty tail with spikes, and the other end had a very long neck and I rather large head attached. And it was looking directly at her. She became scared, 'please don't eat me.' She thought that if it hadn't eaten her yet, it might not later. So she tried to seem polite. "Hello. Can I help you with anything?"  
  
The giant head leaned in closer and it's nose almost touched her. It smelt really bad and Dawn had to make a conscience effort not to step back, away from it.  
  
The thing sniffed at her and then leaned one eye to look her straight in the face. "You are one of the 'Guardians.'" It stated.  
  
"Um, right. What can I do for you?"  
  
"I have information that may prove useful, in what you have set out to do." It glanced behind her to where the others were sleeping. "Your group is rising and one is coming this way."  
  
Just as the being said that Elrond stepped out from the trees, sword drawn and ordered Dawn away from the 'dragon.'  
  
The dragon stood up and raised its head high above the man and glared down, its neck was like a roof over Dawn who was underneath it. "I have no intentions of harming you or your companions." It stated. "Others, like myself, are talking or very near to the other two groups that are traveling to do what you are also trying to do. We have information that will aid you in your search for 'the stone in the north.'"  
  
All others from the camp had come and gathered around the dragon, weapons drawn, ready for whatever the dragon might do, no matter what it had said about no harm.  
  
The orange dragon continued to stare down at the ones gathered and waited for a response. It was Dawn who decided to be the first to speak. "Please, lower your swords and allow the dragon to talk. He has, after all, said that he wishes to help us."  
  
Everyone lowered their weapons but did not put them away, all of them stood a fair distance back and it was Dawn who was the closest to this great being.  
  
"What is your name?" she asked politely.  
  
The dragon again lowered itself, so it would be at eye level with Dawn. It regarded her for a minute as if seeing if she was worthy of something and then it's mouth turned into what she thought was a grin and it laughed. "I'm afraid that my name would not be able to be pronounced by your vocal chords, but translated it is 'racer among stars'." It tilted it's head and gazed at her with eyes that where a darker orange than it's skin. "I would be honored if one of the 'Guardians' called me by that."  
  
Dawn shifted uncomfortably, she really disliked that title and had demanded everyone in her group from Middle-Earth not to call her that. "Please, just call me, Dawn."  
  
Racer Among Stars nodded it's head and then looked back to the rest of the group gathered. "It seems that your friends are a bit intimidated by me." It gave a low chuckle.  
  
Sam became brave enough and stepped up beside Dawn and looked up at the dragon. He couldn't help but ask, "Have you ever eaten someone before?"  
  
The dragon leaned in close and sniffed at the Hobbit, frightening Sam back a few steps. "It depends what you mean by someone."  
  
Sam paled and gulped loudly.  
  
"But I have never eaten someone that smells like you." It grinned, showing it's impossibly large teeth. "The stone which you are looking for Dawn is in the mountains just behind you. About two days journey. Go no further north or else you will have passed the cave that holds what you seek. There are also a sort of keeper that watches over the stone, they will assist you further in finding the stone."  
  
"How do we find these keepers?" Arwen asked.  
  
Racer Among Stars looked at the elf. "Do not worry, they will find you."  
  
"Do you know if there is anything else guarding these stones?" Dawn asked.  
  
The dragon looked down and grinned again. "I do not know anything more about the where the stone is kept and what else guards it. The keepers will know and tell you if they deem it necessary. But I have heard that there is an ancient evil that surrounds the stone and will not take too kindly if it is disturbed. However, that is a rumor that is even older than I am and that is very ancient indeed." The dragon gave a booming laugh and declared that it would leave now. It also suggested that the group back far away so as not to be knocked over by the wind of its wings when it took off.  
  
Even though the group did back up a fair distance the little Hobbits had trouble, staying in one spot and had to be held down by Mace and Elrond.  
  
Blackburn looked up into the sky and the already small, retreating figure in the sky. "I never thought that I would see a dragon. I always thought they were just for storytelling."  
  
"Just be glad that you are still alive, dragons are very unpredictable. And I have learned that first hand, since they usually eat whatever happens to be near it."  
  
Dawn turned and regarded the gathered group. "Well, I guess we do what Racer Among Stars told us and head into the mountains."  
  
The rest of the group nodded and turned back to their makeshift camp to pack and prepare for their journey into the mountains.  
  
While packing Dawn began to wonder what these 'keepers' would look like and if they would be as impressive as their latest visitor.  
  
  
  
The sun peaked out from the horizon and stabbed Troi in the eyes; she rolled over and mumbled, "Just ten more minutes."  
  
She felt something nudging her in the back and she raised her hand to swat it away, "Go away Jack. I'm still sleeping." She hit what was poking her and it was very hard, like rock solid and it didn't feel like Jack or even human for that matter. Her eyes shot open, wide-awake now and rolled over to see what it was.  
  
She shrieked and bolted out of her sleeping bag, stumbled and fell on her butt with a thud. Her cry had woken up the others, who also got up quickly from their beds and started scrambling for their weapons.  
  
The being leaned in even closer to Troi and sniffed. "Are you really a 'Guardian'?" it asked. The voice sounded young and full of awe.  
  
Troi tried to slow down her heart and to put it back down into her chest where it belonged. She was totally freaked. "Yesss." She answered slowly.  
  
The scarlet being started jumping on it's fours, the back set of these seemed a very long distance away, Troi thought. "I told Racer Among Stars I could do! He didn't believe I could! But I did! I'm Splashing Water. 'Cause I like swimming lots and splashing other dragons. Racer Among Stars said that you wouldn't be able to say my real name, so I would have to tell you in the translated way of your tongue." It said in a rush. "What's yours?"  
  
"Um, Troi."  
  
Splashing Water jumped up again. "Nice to meet you Troi!" it looked behind at the rest of the group and raised one clawed hand to them and waved. "Hi!" it cheerfully said. He was greeted by a few unsure hellos.  
  
It looked back down on Troi and sat down so his head was level with hers. "I have stuff that I have to tell you and it's really important." Splashing Water said with seriousness. "It's about your mission and where you will find the stones."  
  
Aragorn came up and stood beside Troi, "What information do you have?"  
  
Splashing Water puffed out his chest in importance and said. "There are 'keepers of the stone in the west' just ahead of you in a valley. Just one day away. They will tell what you need to know about the stone and where to find it."  
  
"Don't you know where it is?"  
  
Splashing Water shook his head. "The keepers keep their secrets very close. Dragons know where the keepers are, but only the keepers know where the stone is really located." He said sadly. "I would tell you if I knew." He added looking at Troi. Splashing Water looked up at the sky and sighed. "Well, I have to go now, to the other dragons and tell them that I have completed my assignment. There is other business that we dragons must attend to. Bye!" he added and jumped up into the air and began beating his wings.  
  
Jack came up beside her as well. "I never that I would meet something that talked faster and more than you." He kidded.  
  
Troi threatened him that he was dangerously close to the Troi shin kick.  
  
  
  
Sitya had woken up a long time ago and decided to have a bath in the stream near by before anyone else got up. The water was cool, clean and in the deepest part it went up to her chest. She ducked under the water to wet her hair and then put shampoo and conditioner in her hair. She was just rinsing out the rest of her hair when she heard someone calling her name.  
  
"I'm down in the stream having a bath." She shouted back to whomever was calling her.  
  
Next thing she knew, Obi-Wan came stumbling out of the trees next to the stream. Sitya immediately ducked down further into the water and stared in horror at the intruder. "What part of 'I'm having a bath' you don't understand?!" she shrieked.  
  
Obi-Wan looked at her and realized his serious error and averted his eyes to the ground before his feet. "The others were wondering where you where and I said I would go out to find you." He mumbled. "Breakfast is ready." He added lamely.  
  
"Thanks for the message." Sitya said sarcastically. She looked at the still motionless young man standing awkwardly on the shore. "You can go now."  
  
Obi-Wan looked up at her and then looked immediately back down, his face going an even deeper shade of red, which almost matched Sitya's. "Right." He turned to leave up the way he had come. He was about ten seconds into his trek back to camp when Sitya started to call him back.  
  
He turned around and walked back to the stream and saw Sitya still in the water. "What is it?" he asked.  
  
Sitya looked embarrassed, "I need you to go get me some clothes."  
  
Obi-Wan grinned, "What? Too distracted by a good looking guy like me and you forget your clothes."  
  
Sitya's face became angry, "No. After your graceful entrance and this rather embarrassing situation, you knocked all my clothes into the stream and now they're all wet."  
  
Obi-Wan looked over and saw that this was indeed true. Sitya's clothes were gently floating in the water. "Oh."  
  
"You know, I would appreciate it if you hurried, 'cause this water isn't exactly warm."  
  
Obi-Wan looked over at her, "What would you do if I didn't?"  
  
Sitya's jaw dropped, "I'd…" she trailed off, realizing she wouldn't be able to do anything, unless she wanted to expose herself and that was something she really did not want to do. She saw Obi-Wan standing on the streams edge grinning. 'I really hate him,' she thought. "Would you please just get some clothes for me." She pleaded.  
  
Obi-Wan couldn't resist, "So what exactly do you need? Bra, panties…"  
  
Sitya decided to turn the tables on him. "Oh yes, that would be very nice. Could you find my blue bra and my matching panties."  
  
Obi-Wan turned red again and headed up the trail again with a mumbled "Okay."  
  
Sitya looked up to the sky, 'what else could go wrong,' she thought.  
  
"You are one of the 'Guardians' are you not?" a deep voice asked behind her.  
  
Sitya jumped and looked around her to find where the voice was coming from, while still hiding in the water. A very large green being was standing in the same stream she was and was looking at her with curiosity. She inwardly groaned to herself, 'why to I always jinx myself when I say think things like that.' "Yes, who's asking?"  
  
The being tilted it's large head and raised an eyebrow, "I am 'Forest Dweller' and I have information that will help you on your quest."  
  
Sitya nodded her head. "That would be great. But… could it wait awhile. I'm not exactly decent for information to be handed out."  
  
The being looked at her again. "I have never understood why you humans need clothes. Sure in winter it is cold, but why in summer, it is hot."  
  
"Well, I guess it's just the way I was raised."  
  
Obi-Wan again came stumbling out of the bush. "I couldn't find your blue bra and panties, so I got your pink ones." He paused and looked at her. "I never thought you the type of person who would wear that type of color."  
  
Sitya again turned red. "Shut up. We have company."  
  
Obi-Wan looked over to where she pointed and saw the large, green dragon very near to them. "Oh."  
  
Sitya gestured to the shore. "Put the clothes there and make sure they don't fall in this time and go tell the others we have company."  
  
Obi-Wan obediently put down the clothes and again took off up the trail.  
  
Sitya sighed and went to move to the shore. She paused again and looked at the dragon. "Do you mind?" she asked.  
  
The dragon shook his head. "You humans and modesty. I'll never understand it. If you want I can stand between you and the trail, so no one else will happen on you in another embarrassing situation."  
  
Sitya groaned. "You saw that?"  
  
Forest Dweller grinned, showing huge teeth. "Indeed I did. And it was one of the funniest things I have seen in my long ancient years."  
  
"I think I'll take you up on that cover thing."  
  
The dragon moved and became a curtain for her and Sitya hurriedly got dressed, the others showed up while she was just tying up her shoes and she heard Obi-Wan exclaim, "You ate her!"  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes. "No he didn't. I'm perfectly alright." She said as she stepped around the dragon.  
  
"And clothed." She heard Riggs say. Sitya shot him a dirty look that promised pay back later.  
  
The dragon continued with what it had just said to Sitya. "I have information that will help you in your search. About three days journey, further east there is a large lake that houses 'the keepers of the stone of the east.' They will help you further in your search of the stone." The green dragon abruptly turned and began to make its way back down the river, which Sitya assumed was the way it had come.  
  
Gandalf stepped in front of the group and asked, "Is that it?"  
  
The dragon turned its big head around and stated that it was in fact it. "There is no other information that I can give you. I have done what I have been sent to do and I am now returning to my home."  
  
Gandalf bowed low. "Then I thank you for your time and input."  
  
The dragon lowered its head a fraction, as if to bow as well. "You are welcome."  
  
  
  
It was the same day as when the Racer Among Stars had come to talk to them. Dawn's group had taken the dragon's advice and had headed into the mountains, which they were now deep inside. Now the sun had already set and the group was still trying to travel through the narrow trails in the mountains, headlights from the vehicles lit the way for the travelers. They had been traveling in the dark for 3 hours and everyone was extremely tired and wanted to rest. Sensing the group's fatigue Elrond decided that it was time to stop and set up camp.  
  
Everyone was grateful for the much needed rest and sat down where they stood. Supper was a very unappetizing beef ration bar, or what was said to be beef. Dawn and the rest of the group only got out their sleeping gear and set it up around the vehicles. No one wanted to drag any unnecessary items out, since they would be packing up and leaving very early in the morning.  
  
Dawn sat down heavily into her sleeping roll and was just starting to get comfortable and dozing off when Rick came up to her.  
  
She sleepily looked at him, "What do you want?"  
  
Rick was holding something in his hand and was playing with it. "Well, this was given to me by the Jedi Council and they, well actually Master Windu, told me to give it to you." He held out the cylinder shaped towards her.  
  
Dawn gingerly took it, "It's a lightsaber." She stated.  
  
Rick nodded, "It's one made for you and when you further advance into being a Jedi, you make your own. But because you don't know how to make one yet, you get another one that is already made for you."  
  
Dawn ignited the blade and a deep purple beam shot out. She was surprised and happy at the same time. Her very own lightsaber, this was way totally cool! "Do Troi and Sitya get one?"  
  
Rick nodded, "They each will get their own. The Jedi Council thought it a good idea for you to have one." He told her and then looked her in the face. "You're not going to use it to chop off my head still, are you?"  
  
Dawn laughed, remembering the day when he had cut off a fair chunk of her hair and she'd chased him around with a lightsaber threatening revenge, "No. I'm over that now and it's not so bad when you get used to it being short."  
  
Rick nodded, relieved.  
  
They talked a bit more, about Jedi and such and what kind of training she would need to become fluent in the way Jedi fought.  
  
"Maybe you could come to the Jedi Temple and spend some time there?" he asked hopeful.  
  
Dawn nodded her head slowly, what else was she going to do? She and her other friends had finished grade 12, and were now finished school. Well in reality they had to wait for their test results to come back and they still had to get through grad, if they even made it back in time. Dawn had nothing planned so far on what she wanted to do. Working for Eric was a give in, but not everything centered around the missions he gave them. "Maybe." She said softly.  
  
The two exchanged 'good nights' and both went to sleep.  
  
  
  
The group heading westward, had indeed made a great deal of progress, in fact they now where camping in a beautiful green valley and Troi hoped that it was the one that had the 'keepers' in it.  
  
Supper was great, again, thanks to Troi's immeasurable skills as a cook, everyone lounged around their fire and talked about nothing and everything. Jack had gotten up a few minutes ago, leaving Troi alone. She liked her relationship, very much with Jack; in fact, it was the best one she had had. But maybe that wasn't very much to go on. Like Sitya said she usually 'attracted weird people to her.' Troi shrugged mentally, oh well, she was having fun and would see what would happen. She also wondered about him and grad, would he go to it with her if she asked? She would ask him later, when everything was settled and if they even made it back to Earth in time for it.  
  
Jack came up beside her and sat down, Qui-Gon also came over and sat down on the other side. Jack was holding a bundle of cloth in his hands and Troi wondered what it could be.  
  
Qui-Gon spoke first, "The Jedi Council has decided that you are in need of a lightsaber." He nodded to the bundle and Rick held it out for her, which she accepted. "It is one that you may use for training," he continued, "Until you make your own."  
  
"Make my own?" she asked.  
  
Jack nodded, "It is one of the trials of becoming a Jedi, making your lightsaber."  
  
Troi looked confused, "How do I do that?"  
  
Jack looked over at Qui-Gon and then continued, "It has been arranged that you and your friends could come to the Temple and continue training there. Once this is all over." He added.  
  
Troi looked surprised, spend time in another galaxy? She almost laughed out loud, who would have ever thought that this would happen to someone? Especially her. Troi made up her mind right away, without thinking. "Yes. I would love to go and train there."  
  
Qui-Gon nodded and then left, leaving Jack and Troi alone. "Aren't you going to turn it on?" he asked.  
  
Troi flicked the switch and an intense blue beam shot out. Troi smiled, "It's my favorite color." She told him.  
  
Jack gave her a hug, "I know."  
  
  
  
Sitya was becoming dangerously bored, ever since the group had come out of the mountains there had been nothing but grasslands, grasslands and more grasslands. They were now camping in the 'grasslands' and Sitya was desperately looking for something to do. At least while they were traveling, Obi-Wan had left her alone, which Sitya had no pBoblems with what so ever, because of what had happened this morning. She had caught a few jokes about what had happened and had tried her best to ignore it, but Malfoy was the worst and kept pestering her and asking her questions about it. It was about five hours into the grasslands and Malfoy's hundredth question when she made up her mind that she would do something, absolutely horrible to him.  
  
She looked across the fire and saw Martin Riggs, talking to Obi-Wan, who looked decidedly uncomfortable. PBobably talking to him about this morning too, she thought. She was also glad that someone was giving him a hard time, just like Malfoy had done to her.  
  
Kahlan and Lara were sitting beside her, making small talk and trying to bring her in on the conversation, Sitya didn't let them, knowing that the conversation would somehow turn to the little 'bath scene' from that morning. She excused herself and walked out into the grasslands, just to get away from some of the noise and be by herself.  
  
She was not out there long and soon heard footsteps behind her. She knew who it was and didn't exactly want to talk to him right now.  
  
She didn't talk to him and since he was the one to come out to her, she decided that he would have to start.  
  
"I'm sorry about what happened today."  
  
Sitya finally turned and looked at him. "Forget about it."  
  
There was another awkward silence and again Obi-Wan spoke, "There's something that the Jedi Council wishes for you to have." He handed her a bundle and instructed to her to open it. "It's a lightsaber. The Council thought it might be wise for you to have one. And you could use it when you start to train to become a Jedi."  
  
Sitya unwrapped the cloth and inside there indeed was a lightsaber. She turned it on and a bright clear, white light came forth. She played with it a bit, swishing it from side to side. Sitya had not been at the mansion, the day Dawn and Troi had been instructed on how to use a lightsaber, she felt suddenly jealous. Why was she the one who had been stuck in a gym, writing math equations? Then she felt guilty, she had been the one to sign up for that course and by signing up for that course, it was guaranteed that she would have to write an exam.  
  
Sitya shut down the lightsaber and looked at Obi-Wan, "Who says that I want to train as a Jedi?"  
  
Obi-Wan looked confused, "Why wouldn't you? You have the power to use the Force, so why wouldn't you train to use it?"  
  
"Maybe I don't want to be a Jedi. Maybe I have other plans for my life."  
  
Obi-Wan looked hurt, "It's not that bad of a life. It's hard sometimes, but you might start to like it."  
  
Sitya sighed, she didn't really want to get into this conversation with someone, especially Obi-Wan. "It's not that. It's just…" she stopped to gather her thoughts, "I want to do something different with my life. I've always wanted to be a forensic pathologist and I really think I could do it."  
  
Obi-Wan asked her what that was and Sitya explained. "Someone who works with dead bodies to figure out cause of death, and if it's a homicide, we look for clues that might lead to the killer." She snorted softly, "I won't have any pBoblems working with dead people, you've seen who well I work with live people." Sitya turned to the west and sighed, "Looks like, you've already got a Jedi recruit coming back with you, when this is over."  
  
Obi-Wan looked west to and 'talked' with his Master and found out that Sitya had been telling the truth, Troi had decided to train to become a Jedi. He looked over and saw that Sitya looked sad, about the time when she would lose her friend and they would become separated. He tried to cheer her up, "I'll look out for her."  
  
Sitya gave a weak smile, "Thanks. If Dawn decides to go as well would you do the same with her?"  
  
Obi-Wan nodded, "Sure."  
  
  
  
Morning dawned and Troi counted back in her head what day it would be on Earth. The 17th, thirteen more days until grad, including today. Troi sighed, she really wanted to go to that, but she knew this was more important and lives were at stake. She didn't even have a dress yet, Troi realized.  
  
On the morning of the third day of their journey, the group had made it to a beautiful valley. The grass was deep green, with a small number of rivers running through it, she saw. There were a few clusters of trees dotting the landscape and little birds floated along in the air. They had been directed to this valley from the dragon, who had visited them the day before. Mysterious creatures, those, she thought. Aragorn had been wary when he first saw the dragon, later he explained that they were highly unpredictable, some were generally always good and others always bad. You never knew which dragon you would get, even if you did happen to see one in your life.  
  
She heard others getting up and moving around so she decided she should get up as well and pack, to begin another day of traveling. A little bug swept across her face and she raised a hand to swat it away. And was immediately surprised to hear it talk back to her.  
  
"Why did you do that?" a little voice demanded. A little bright, green fuzz of light was suspended in front of her face. "Do you always treat visitors like that?"  
  
Troi tried to speak to the little thing hovering in front of her, and she was beginning to get annoyed when it wouldn't stop moving.  
  
"I say, that is pBobably the most impolite way I have been greeted in my life." The hovering stopped and landed on a tall blade of grass, Troi hunched down to get a closer look at it. It was like a little miniature version of an elf, only with wings. All things that she thought was what a fairy would look like. The fairy looked like it was a male, since it was dressed in pants and a shirt, which was green, along with little boots to complete the outfit. She also saw that it carried something that looked like a little bow strapped across its back.  
  
"I'm sorry, but I thought that you were a bug."  
  
"A bug!" it shrieked. "I am not a bug! No relations with filthy things like that!"  
  
"Sorry." Troi repeated.  
  
The fairy continued to stare at her. "I'm really sorry."  
  
The fairy seemed to be at least satisfied with her apology and started to hop from one foot to another. "I'm a messenger." It declared. "I've been sent out here to bring you to my city. The city among cities." It boasted. "No other fairy city like it. It's called Edmontia, perhaps you've heard about it?"  
  
When Troi shook her head again, the fairy started to slowly hover again in the air. "Well I'll have to do something about that! Follow me!" it rose higher in the air and started to float to one of the groups of trees, dotting the landscape.  
  
"Wait!" the fairy stopped. "I have to go get the rest of my group."  
  
The fairy came back and landed on her shoulder, "Well let's go! I'll help."  
  
Troi walked towards the rest of the group who were readying themselves for another day of journeying. Troi spoke to Jack first, "We have a visitor." She told him.  
  
Jack looked around, not seeing anyone, "Where?"  
  
The fairy on her shoulder chirped, "Right here!"  
  
Jack looked down, surprised and then at Troi. "Where did you find him?"  
  
The fairy became angry and started hovering again. "She did not find me! I found her!"  
  
The rest of the group came over to where they were standing and Aragorn spoke to the little creature, "And why would you be looking for Troi?"  
  
The fairy settled down and again rested on Troi's shoulder, "She is one of the 'Guardians,'" it declared "and I have been instructed by the 'keepers of the west' to bring her to them."  
  
"And are the keepers like you?" Aragorn asked.  
  
"No, no! They are far wiser than I and are leaders of our city. They are great and powerful fairies. It is an honor to be selected among thousands to do a mission such as this. My name is 'Pelaty'." It again floated off Troi's shoulder and headed towards a group of trees. "Follow me! Follow me!" it sang.  
  
  
  
The miniature city did indeed seem grand, even though it was incredibly small. Although, if it were put into human proportions it would have been huge. Houses were built into the trees, like apartments, and streets covered the ground and the group had to be mindful were they stepped, so as not to step on the little 'streetlights' or some passing fairies who were walking along. Pelaty lead them off to the side of the village, where a lone squat building sat. Pelaty instructed them to wait outside for him, while he went inside to tell the 'keepers' that he had completed his mission.  
  
While they waited, curious fairies came and hid behind trees, bushes and rocks to peak out at the strangers. Children made games of seeing who was the bravest to fly close to the strangers. It was funny at first, seeing these peoples frightened of them and then it became annoying, having little 'bugs' darting out in front of you and zooming away.  
  
Finally Petaly came out and solemnly told them that the 'keepers' would see them. He led them to a circle further away from the city. It was very small, but the travelers managed to all fit in it.  
  
Troi looked around and saw other fairies, getting settled in the trees and rocks surrounding them, excitedly talking to each other. It seemed this would be something of a display, which the fairies had not seen and were interested to see what would happen.  
  
In front of them stood a little dais, four in total, which rested on an old tree stump. The height of the stump would bring the 'keepers' at approximate eye level of the travelers.  
  
Finally a hush fell over the gathered fairies and four ancient looking fairies, slowly floated in the air, towards their thrones. They were incredibly old compared to the other fairies, which Troi had seen. There were two females, with light colored, green dresses and two males, dressed in the same material, but in pants and a shirt. Their faces where sunken and sagging, but they did seem to contain a vast amount of knowledge and power.  
  
The 'keepers' took their time settling themselves into their chairs and then gravely looked at the newcomers.  
  
One of the old male fairies spoke first, "Which one of you is the 'Guardian'?" it asked. Even though it was looking right at Troi and she sensed that he knew she was it.  
  
She stepped forward and away from the rest of the group, leaving herself alone in front of the 'keepers'. "I am."  
  
The four nodded soberly and looked on at her, as if they were sizing her up and seeing if she was worthy of the title she had been given.  
  
After a long silence, one old female fairy asked her a question, "Why is it that you seek 'the stone of the west'?"  
  
Troi thought about that for a spilt second. She didn't really understand why 'she' wanted it, only that others wanted her to get it, so Sauron would not be able to. She thought it best just to say what she had been thinking.  
  
"That does not tell us why you want 'stone'."  
  
Troi decided to go further into her answer. "I want the 'stone' so people do not suffer at the hands of Sauron, I have been chosen to do this task and I will do it to the best of my ability." "How do we know that you will not us the 'stone' for yourself?" the other older male asked.  
  
Troi sighed, "I don't." That caused a stir in the fairies gathered. "I can only say that, as of this moment, I don't want power over people. I especially don't think you should have that power only through something that terrifies people into submission."  
  
"Do you think you have power?"  
  
Troi was slightly confused and then smiled, of course she did. "Yes I do." Again stirring among the fairies and she sensed Elrond and Arwen becoming uncomfortable behind her. This was not the way they wanted her to answer their question. "I have power to choose what I think is right and I have power to act on what I think is right."  
  
"How do you know if you are right?" the last female fairy asked her.  
  
"I believe that I have been raised by good people and I think that they have taught me good morals. I think that it is within my capability to make good choices and not be influenced by those who wish to do harm."  
  
She waited in front of the 'keepers' again they fell silent and once in awhile they looked at each other. Almost like they were talking to each other, but in some other way that Troi could not hear.  
  
The old male fairy who had spoken first again took the lead. "We will tell you where 'the stone of the west' is hidden. However, be warned that there are also 'keepers' of an evil sort, who will not think twice of killing you. But if you are indeed one of the true 'Guardians' you will have no pBoblems at all. You will have to go alone."  
  
Troi shook her head. No way was she going in alone, with absolutely no one to look out for her. "I am not going in alone." She stated. "And from what I have heard of this Sauron, you are in danger of him as well. I suggest that you at least let me take one person with me."  
  
There was stunned silence and the 'keepers' almost regarded her with new respect. Again the older male spoke, "Very well. You may bring one and only one person along with you. However there is a warning as well. If you are indeed a 'Guardian' you will have almost no worries about being attacked. Whoever you take will be more at risk of being attacked."  
  
Troi thought again of her request. She didn't want any one else to come with her if they would get hurt.  
  
Jack came up and took her hand, sensing her hesitation, "I'll go with her."  
  
  
  
The 'keepers' had showed them the trail, which would lead to the stone, Troi and the other travelers were searching for. The 'keepers' had left as soon as they pointed out the trail, but it seemed the whole rest of the city was with them and watching, waiting to see what would happen next.  
  
The trail was dark and spooky, one word fit into Troi's mind about what the place was 'evil'. It was almost like that scene from 'Beauty and the Beast' where the father was running from the wolves, but a whole lot scarier, since this was real and that was just a movie.  
  
"I really don't want to go in there." She told Jack.  
  
"Me neither."  
  
The rest of their group was standing behind them a little distance giving their silent support. Troi and Jack hoisted their packs on their backs, full of what they thought would be necessary equipment. They had no idea what to expect, so they had brought a little bit of everything.  
  
Troi turned back to the group and gave a little wave, which was silently returned. "Let's get this over with."  
  
Both of them marched into the forest and were immediately surrounded in gloom and fog.  
  
  
  
Troi and Jack traveled for a very long time and nothing incredibly horrible happened to them. Looking down at her watch, Troi saw that they had been traveling for three hours. They could see no sun, and even when she knew it was 9:00 am, she would have thought that it was night.  
  
"Do you know how much further?" she asked Jack.  
  
He looked at her and shrugged. "I don't know any more than you do."  
  
There was howling in the distance, deeper into the woods and off the trail they had been following.  
  
The two stopped, and Jack suggested that both of them take out their lightsabers and have them ready in their hands. Troi had no pBoblems with that and took out her lightsaber from her backpack.  
  
Howls came closer and they could definitely tell that it was more than one and they were getting closer.  
  
Troi looked around nervously, "I think now would be a good time to pick up the pace."  
  
Both started walking faster and were soon running when they saw dark shadows off the trail, running along beside them.  
  
They got to a bend in the trail and saw ten very large wolves, blocking their path. They had red blood shot glowing eyes and were salivating all over the place. The ground beneath them already had a think layer of their spit.  
  
Jack eyed the creatures warily. "I don't want to go off the trail to find another way. Let's just slowly move up and see if they'll move out of the way."  
  
Troi looked at the wolves too. "What if they don't?"  
  
"Get ready with your lightsaber and run." He stated wryly.  
  
The two moved slowly moved up to the pack and were greeted with an ever-increasing growl, coming from the pack. They stopped a few paces away and Troi glanced back. She saw twenty other wolves behind them, surrounding them and even more were coming out of the trees to cover their sides. "Jack…"  
  
Jack nodded slowly, "I know." He ignited his lightsaber and advanced forward, Troi following his example.  
  
The first wolf came from the right on Jack's side, going for his neck. Jack quickly stepped aside and neatly tore off the thing's neck with one swoosh of his lightsaber.  
  
The wolves immediately became angry and Troi could feel it in the air and then they all jumped at them at once.  
  
Troi raised her lightsaber to the one coming directly head on at her and sliced it in half. While she did that, she turned around and saw that another one was already coming at her from behind and she had no way of bringing her lightsaber around to protect herself. The wolf landed on her and knocked her to the ground; her lightsaber flew out of her hand and out of reach. The thing weighed a ton and was slobbering all over her. She couldn't move as it toyed with her, sniffing and batting her head around with one paw. She was starting to get a headache from the pounding and her inability to breathe.  
  
Suddenly the wolf was flung off her and its head was separated from his body. Jack lifted her up and handed her back her lightsaber. "Are you alright?" he was concerned.  
  
Troi gave a weak laugh, which made her start to cough, "It's all good."  
  
Jack nodded and told her to run, wolves where lying everywhere, and Troi felt guilty about Jack doing all the work. She'd only got one and Jack had done the rest.  
  
As they ran they again heard howling in the trees and it was closing in.  
  
They both ran hard for five minutes, flying through the trail, with the ever-threatening wolves behind them. Just when Troi thought she couldn't keep this up for much longer there was a rock formation up ahead, with a trail split right down the middle. They ran for the split and ran in single file, there was no room for two people side by side.  
  
Troi was in the front and looked behind her to see if Jack was all right and caught a glimpse of the wolves beyond the entrance. They had stopped and were pacing in front of the entrance and howling at them. "Jack, look…"  
  
Jack kept moving, pushing her along and looked back as well and then stopped and stared at the gathered wolves. They stood just before the entrance and were not coming in after them. "Wonder what that's all about?" He stopped and stood, staring at the wolves some more. Who looked on at them with hunger in their eyes.  
  
"Do you think it's safe in here?" Troi asked.  
  
Jack shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe there's something in here that even they are afraid of."  
  
Troi didn't like that idea and turned around to start walking again. "I thought, those 'keepers' said that I wouldn't have to worry about things like that." She grumbled.  
  
Jack laughed softly, "I recall that they said you should have 'almost' no pBoblems with anything like that."  
  
  
  
The sky slowly brightened and in a bit, the sun was out and shining. It was noon when they finally got out of the spilt rock and stumbled into a clearing in front of them. It was circular, surrounded by trees, that looked as evil as the ones they had left behind. In the center of the clearing there was a deep pit and Troi could just make out the top of a very large pillar and an opaque stone on top.  
  
Troi grinned in relief, "Hey, we made it!" she took off for the stone and Jack followed after her.  
  
Troi stopped on the lip of the pit and balanced on the edge trying to get back. Jack ran into her and almost knocked her in, but when he saw what was in it, he grabbed Troi and fell back onto the ground so they did not to fall into the pit.  
  
Troi and Jack slowly got back up on their feet and peered over the edge of the pit; just to make sure what they had seen was indeed what they had seen.  
  
The pit was filled with gigantic snakes; they floor, literally moving. There was no where else to go to get to the stone and it looked like they would have to walk across the moving floor.  
  
Troi looked queasy, "I don't want to go swimming with the snakes." She stated.  
  
Jack shrugged, "It doesn't look like we have much choice." He surveyed the area surrounding the pit. "It's too far to jump across, unless…"  
  
Troi perked up, "Unless sounds like such a good word!"  
  
"I could levitate us across." He said.  
  
"Levitate?"  
  
Jack shrugged, "Sure. No pBoblem, I've done it before."  
  
Troi looked doubtful. "No offence, but have you done it with a bunch of live, gigantic snakes, squirming around below you?"  
  
"No… But I have done it with razor, sharp blades, poking out of the ground. I'm not going to drop you."  
  
Troi nodded slowly, "Alright…"  
  
"Just think of it as a Jedi training exercise, come on, it'll be fun."  
  
Troi looked at him horrified. "I'd hate to be around you when you're having a really good time."  
  
Jack grabbed her around her waist and instructed her to close her eyes and sense what he was doing and try to do the same thing. Troi shut her eyes really hard and concentrated about the pillar and not the snakes below.  
  
"You can open your eyes now." She heard.  
  
She slowly opened them and saw that they were standing on the pillar, with the stone in the center. It was indeed huge, Troi and Jack had plenty of room to move around without having the fear of falling off. Troi shut that thought up real quick, not wanting to think of what was below and surrounding them.  
  
Troi moved to the stone and looked at it. 'Kind of a boring thing to hold so much power' she thought. She reached out and touched it, it was absolutely freezing. "Hey, Jack. Come check this thing out."  
  
Jack was standing behind her and looking at the stone oddly. He shook his head, as if to bring himself out of a trance. "I don't think that's a really good idea."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
He hesitated, "It feels evil. And I don't think I should touch it. You and your friends were the ones chosen to do this task."  
  
Troi nodded in agreement. "Good point." She gently picked up the stone and placed it in her bag. It wasn't very large, fitting in the palm of her hand, but it still felt cold to the touch. She zipped up her bag and slung it over her shoulder again, "Come on, let's get out of here."  
  
Jack nodded in agreement and again levitated them across the pit of snakes, Troi looked down and it seemed that the snakes were somehow different.  
  
By the time they landed on the other side, the snakes were definitely different, taking on a silvery hue and changing before their eyes.  
  
"Jack…" she pointed down into the pit, where it was glowing silver.  
  
"I've got a really bad feeling about this." Jack said. "I think we should leave. NOW!"  
  
They began running back to the rocks, but were stopped when the same silver substance was directly in front of them blocking their path. They both didn't want to go walk into the stuff, because they didn't know what it would do to them.  
  
Troi turned back and saw a 'head' coming out of the pit, "Holy…!" she exclaimed and Jack turned to see what she was seeing. By now, the thing had emerged as the upper body of a man and the lower part as the tail of a snake and it still had that silver color.  
  
"Well, I guess you don't see that everyday." Jack nervously stated.  
  
The snake-man came fully out of the pit and advanced towards them. "Who are you?" it hissed.  
  
Troi and Jack stood before it not moving hoping that it would be some form of good monster, but that was highly unlikely.  
  
Troi stepped forward first, "I'm Troi and this is my friend Jack."  
  
The silver snake-man moved closer to her, "Who ARE you?" it asked again.  
  
Troi gulped, "I'm one the 'Guardians'."  
  
The monster drew back suddenly as if stung. "'Guardian'!" it hissed and became angry. "There are no more 'Guardians'! Give me back my stone, it is mine and I made it!" It reached out for Troi and her backpack, but she stepped out of reach and came into contact with the silver barrier.  
  
It made her feel cold and hopeless and when she opened her eyes, she saw Jack on the other side yelling at her and the silver monster becoming even more angry.  
  
The snake-man reached out for Jack, who wasn't looking and without thinking, she reached out and grabbed Jack, pulling him into the barrier.  
  
Immediately the silver monster became even more angry and started banging on the barrier. It was stopped and could not make a dent in it or enter it. It howled in pain and drew back away from it. "Give me back my stone!" it slammed into the barrier again with all its weight. The same thing happened as before and it howled in pain, this time worse.  
  
Troi smiled sadly. The barrier was telling her things, memories from it's past and what it was like when this monster and it's siblings had ruled Middle-Earth a very long time ago. It was evil and had to perish from this land.  
  
Still holding on to Jack with her left hand, she held her right hand in front of her and started muttering words that the barrier told her to say. Jackeruit Herguyt Saxceuty! She kept repeating the words again and again, while she spoke those words a great ball of silver formed in her hand, made from the same material as the barrier. Soon it was the size of herself, but did not weigh anything, she stopped speaking and looked out at the snake-man who stood looking at her in amazement.  
  
"There are no more 'Guardians'!" it repeated.  
  
Troi threw the ball at the monster and as it hit it, the silver barrier dissolved. Troi and Jack stood and watched as the monster withered on the ground and listened to it howling. It was awful and Troi almost started to cry as it moved pitifully on the ground and slowly died.  
  
"How did you do that?" Jack asked as the noises finally stopped.  
  
Troi shrugged, "The barrier told me what to do." She didn't want to think about that. What the barrier had shown her was absolutely awful and full of pain. "Let's go. We will have no more trouble getting back."  
  
Jack was about to ask her how she knew that, but thought better of it. He also wondered what the monster meant when it had said 'there were no more 'Guardians'  
  
  
  
This was now the second day of traveling since Racer Among Stars had talked to them. The 18th back home, Dawn thought. She also wondered how her friends were doing and if they were all right. She sighed, traveling through mountains was tiring, always going up and down and twisting and turning.  
  
They stopped for lunch on a large overhang on the mountain. There was plenty of room and the vehicles and horses they had, were spaced out having room to be parked wherever they pleased. Dawn sat on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the mountains surrounding them. They certainly were not the highest peak in sight, nor were they the lowest.  
  
Rick came and sat down beside her, giving her a piece of banana bread, that Troi had so thoughtfully put in with the rest of their food. "Nice view."  
  
Dawn nodded, munching on her desert. She looked out across to the other mountain and thought she had seen movement. She pointed it out to Rick, "Did you see that?"  
  
Rick shook his head and kept watching were she was watching, "I don't see anything."  
  
Dawn continued to eat, but kept glancing to where she had thought she had seen something. Again she saw it, but this time it was off to the side and on the same mountain as they were on. "Did you see it that time?" she asked.  
  
Rick slowly nodded, "I think we should tell the others." He got up and walked to where the rest of the group was standing and spoke to them quietly.  
  
Dawn got up as well and walked in the direction of where she had seen the movement. She walked as far as the first turn away from the camp and stopped short.  
  
The thing looked as surprised as her to be seen and both backed up suddenly.  
  
Dawn was amazed, it was a real live unicorn, and it was standing in front of her. She slowly walked towards it, saying soothing words and out stretched her hand to pet it. She was overjoyed when it did not run away from her and allowed her to touch it.  
  
The coat was pure white and dazzling in the sun's rays, almost blinding and to the touch the animal was warm. It snorted and turned its head around to get closer to her, almost like it was hugging her.  
  
"That's a good girl," Dawn said.  
  
The unicorn snorted again and then did something totally amazing, it spoke. "I am one of 'keepers' Hertuuipoyve. And I have come before you to show you were to find 'the stone of the north'"  
  
It raised its head and then whinnied into the air. "I have called the other three 'keepers' and we will wait until they arrive until I tell you anything more."  
  
  
  
Dawn stood waiting for the other unicorns and then brought them to her group. All stopped and stared. Elrond and Arwen particularly looked surprised.  
  
Elrond came up and bowed respectively before the unicorns and smiled, "I had thought that there were no more unicorns left here."  
  
The larger unicorn answered back, "We have been in hiding, ever since the last 'Guardian' lived. It was unsafe for us to return to people's eyes." It turned to Dawn and spoke, "It is a great honor to finally meet another 'Guardian'. It has been far too long."  
  
"What do you mean another 'Guardian', have you seen Sitya or Troi?"  
  
The unicorn shook it's head. "No, but if you wish to know more, we will tell you later, when thousands of lives are not at stake."  
  
The unicorn that Dawn had seen first spoke, "One of the other 'Guardians' has been successful and has already gathered 'the stone of the west'." Dawn thought in her head and remembered that it was Troi who had gone that way.  
  
'At least she's safe." Dawn thought.  
  
The smallest unicorn spoke, "What you are looking for is right below you. In a cave that travels deep underground."  
  
The last unicorn spoke, "We have no way of knowing what is really in there, and can not help you to understand what to expect. No one has gone in there and came out alive for an uncountable number of years. The other Guardian was granted her request to take someone with her and we will grant you the same."  
  
Dawn looked at Rick, "You're coming with me."  
  
Rick shrugged, "All right."  
  
  
  
Rick and Dawn were lowered to the cave below them, using rope tied to the vehicles. They and the rest of their group would never have known that the cave was there, and thanks to the unicorns, they knew where to go.  
  
The cave's mouth was hardly wide enough for Rick to fit in, and for him to get in involved a lot of grunting and sweating, he finally got in and Dawn, slipped in behind him.  
  
Inside, the cave was wide and could hold a very large number of people, water could be heard dripping further back and the place stank of moist dirt, that pBobably had a very large number of microscopic little things, most of which Dawn did not want to know about.  
  
Rick searched in his pack and brought out a flashlight and turned it on, further detail of the cave was revealed, and it looked like any other typical cave, rock walls that had not seen daylight.  
  
They made their way into the cave, wary, because they did not know what else was inside. It was really silent and Dawn jumped when Rick spoke.  
  
"I'm glad, I don't live in any cave. It's so dark and damp."  
  
"Sssh! What if something in here hears you and decides to investigate if it's a snack?"  
  
Rick rolled his eyes, "We've been in here for over four hours and nothings happened to us so far." He reasoned.  
  
A moan surrounded them and Dawn glared Rick, "You just had to say that didn't you? You totally jinxed us."  
  
Rick looked around. "I think that was ahead of us."  
  
Dawn shook her head, "No it was behind us."  
  
A moan came again, this time louder and was joined by others.  
  
"I think it might be a good idea if we just kept walking." Rick stated.  
  
"Way to go Rick." She said sarcastically. "Like I couldn't figure out to do that too."  
  
They again made their way deeper into the cave and all was quiet, then Rick whipped around with the flashlight and saw staggering forms behind them. "What are those!" he yelped.  
  
Dawn started backing away from the things, they were clustering the cave, leaving no room, between them. "I think they might be mummies." She stated.  
  
Rick looked at her, "What do you mean 'mummies'?"  
  
"As in walking dead."  
  
Rick gulped, "Are the bad?"  
  
Dawn shrugged, "Only what I've seen in movies and I think I'll believe what I see on TV."  
  
They took off running and the mummies moaned behind them, gradually gaining on them.  
  
"How do they do that? I mean, we're running and they're staggering around."  
  
Dawn shook her head, "Now is not the time to debate how something chases you."  
  
A hand burst out of the wall and grabbed onto Rick's arm, who gave a horribly girlish scream. Dawn whipped out her lightsaber and ignited it, slicing the arm.  
  
A head continued to poke through the wall and soon a foot was out and the rest of the body was coming out as well. Dawn decided to take off the head, deciding it was the most likely place to cause the most damage.  
  
Rick continued to shriek, the arm still wrapped tightly around his own. "Get it off! Get it off!"  
  
Dawn grabbed hold of the hand and ripped it off Rick. The thing was still alive and immediately tried to grab onto her. She threw it down and sliced it to tiny bits.  
  
Because of the little delay with the mummy from the wall, the others were already dangerously close and started to garb for the two. Rick and Dawn started to chop off limbs, which still twitched on the floor, trying to grab at them.  
  
"Let's go!" Dawn grabbed Rick's arm and again took off down the hall. The reached an opening. They could still go farther, but on either side of them there was an opening that led down to whatever depths. And off to the side there was a little cliff, jutting out of the wall.  
  
Rick grabbed Dawn's arm and leapt to the cliff.  
  
Dawn was furious, "Way to go Sherlock! You've cornered us off!"  
  
Rick shook his head, "No those mummies are too stupid to jump, they'll just push each other off that cliff and fall."  
  
True to his words the mummies did just that and soon all of them were gone, falling down the opening between them and their prey.  
  
Dawn leaned back, "Well that was exciting."  
  
Behind her, the wall opened and Rick and Dawn went tumbling through the air.  
  
  
  
The fall finally stopped and they fell on soft soil, although it still hurt. Rick fumbled around for the flashlight in the dark and finally turned it on. The place they were now in was circular and had a very large pit in the middle. In it and in the center of the pit, Dawn could just make out the large platform of a pillar and what looked to be a very dark black stone in the center of that.  
  
"Well, I guess that's what we're looking for." Rick pointed to the pillar and the black stone.  
  
"I guess so."  
  
They made their way towards the pit and the stone. They crept up to the edge and saw that the floor was moving.  
  
"What are those?" Rick asked nervously.  
  
Dawn took the flashlight and shined it down at the bottom, "I believe those are snakes."  
  
Rick started to look uncomfortable, "Are you sure?"  
  
Dawn shrugged, "Unless there's something else that looks like one that we haven't discovered yet. Could be worse," she added.  
  
"I'll take that snake theory. I don't think we'd be able to jump across, it's too far."  
  
Dawn nodded her agreement.  
  
"I think I should be able to levitate us across."  
  
"Levitate? And what do you mean 'think'? I am not going to let you levitate me across if you only 'think' you can do it." She stated flatly.  
  
"I can levitate us. But, I think you should help out a bit."  
  
"How am I supposed to help out?"  
  
"Just go with the flow. Close your eyes and feel what I'm doing and then duplicate it."  
  
Rick put his arm around her and told her to close her eyes and think about the pillar, the destination that they wished to reach.  
  
Before she knew it they were on the pillar and Dawn looked around in amazement, "I didn't even realize that we've moved." She looked at the silent and still stone.  
  
Moving over to it Dawn gently picked up the palm sized stone and it sent a shiver through her body, it was cold, and it felt like it was sucking something out of her. She quickly opened her bag and placed the stone inside. "Let's get out of here."  
  
Rick nodded in agreement, before when they had first entered the chamber it felt cold, now, after Dawn had picked up the stone he felt a presence of pure evil. He quickly grabbed Dawn around the waist again and without further hesitation, he levitated them across the pit again.  
  
"Rick… the pit's turning into a funny color."  
  
Rick looked back and saw that it was, turning a silver hue and growing in intensity. He grabbed Dawn's hand and started running to where he saw an opening in the other side of the cave and what he hoped was a way out.  
  
When they were about five feet away from the exit, a silver barrier erupted in front of them and Rick skidded to a stop, not knowing if it was evil or good.  
  
He looked at Dawn and saw she was thinking the same thing as well, and then he looked back to where the pit was and saw that a giant silver snake-man was emerging from it. He knew that whatever it was, it was bad.  
  
The snake-man was considerably upset and it swished it's tail from side to side, "One of the 'Guardians' has already stolen 'the stone of the west' and the maker vanished. I will not allow that to happen here."  
  
Without thinking Dawn grabbed Rick's arm and pulled him into the silver barrier, just as the snake-man brought his tail around to squish them.  
  
Dawn heard voices in the barrier and knew they would help her. Voices that told her to speak, "Jackeruit Herguyt Saxceuty!" she started chanting and a ball of silver flame, started to grow in her free hand. It grew in size and intensity and the snake-man backed away from it nervously. It already knew what had happened to one of it's fellow makers with the other 'Guardian' and it knew the same would happen to it, if it did not do something fast.  
  
It charged the silver barrier, hoping that it would collapse and it would be able to get its prey inside.  
  
Dawn unleashed her ball of fire before it hit the wall. The silver fire spread over the snake-man and it erupted in horrible screams. The barrier abruptly fell and the voices that Dawn heard were gone as well as the monster.  
  
Dawn thought of the memories and knew she would be having nightmares for a very long time, what she had seen and remembered were horrible. She looked at a stunned Rick and wearily said, "Let's go."  
  
  
  
Sitya and her group had followed Forest Dwellers instructions and had reached the lake in the three days that the dragon had promised would take them to get there. They didn't know if it was indeed the right lake, but it was the first one they had seen during their journey and it was huge.  
  
The group had stopped for a rest in the afternoon, to eat breakfast and do what they wished. Obi-Wan had talked Sitya into practicing with her new lightsaber against him. She jumped at the chance and Obi-Wan decided to make it a bit more difficult. He cut down a fair sized tree and started to slice the branches off it with his light saber.  
  
Sitya snorted, "This isn't exactly the kind of practice that I had in mind."  
  
Obi-Wan just told her to follow his lead and they would get to what he planned when they were done.  
  
After all the branches had been cleared off, he sliced the trunk in two and then proceeded to roll the log into the water, Sitya followed with the other one.  
  
When the logs were floating in the water, Obi-Wan said, "Alright, get on and we'll have our practice."  
  
"You're going to make me balance and fight at the same time?"  
  
"Yes. Think you can't do it?" Obi-Wan taunted.  
  
Sitya gave him a grin, "Sounds like fun."  
  
Both of them got on their separate logs and rolled them a bit more away from the shore, into deeper water. When Obi-Wan was satisfied that they were in deep enough water, he called a halt and both of them balanced on their logs facing each other.  
  
Sitya turned towards the shore and saw that they had an audience. Everyone in the group was standing on the shore and watching them.  
  
"Alright, we'll practice against each other and when someone hits the water, that means that it's finished. Discontinued, unless you want to get back on and start over again."  
  
Sitya became angry, "What makes you think I'll be the first to fall in?"  
  
Obi-Wan shrugged, "Well, I'm not going to."  
  
They started taking shots at each other, while still balancing on the logs. Sitya was becoming a bit concerned, it was harder than she thought and it looked like Obi-Wan was completely in control of his balance and fighting technique. Sitya didn't like that they were on separate logs and decided to change that.  
  
Sitya leaped onto Obi-Wan's log, who gave a little cry of surprise, "You're not allowed to do that!" he hissed.  
  
Sitya shrugged, she definitely liked this close fighting compared to what she had before. "You didn't say anything about not being able to do this."  
  
She gave a shot at his legs, and he jumped up to avoid the lightsaber. When he landed, Sitya was thrown off balance. His weight had serious upset her balance and Sitya leaned forward trying to regain it. She knew she was losing the battle with gravity and before she hit the water she grabbed onto Obi-Wan's shirt and pulled him with her, into the water.  
  
Both came up sputtering and heard laughter and applause coming from shore. Sitya put up a hand above the water and gave them a wave. And then she looked over at Obi-Wan, he did not look happy.  
  
"What'd you pull me in for?" he demanded.  
  
"I figured you needed a bath after that work out." Sitya scrambled on top of one of the logs and looked down on the drenched and unhappy Jedi.  
  
"I could have gone without." He scrambled up on the same log and they both started to battle towards the shore. They didn't get anywhere and Sitya was beginning to get annoyed.  
  
"Are we stuck on something?" she glanced around at the surrounding water and Obi-Wan did the same. She was looking at the water and saw a face materialize before her. That was not what she was expecting and again tumbled into the water.  
  
Obi-Wan started laughing, "What's wrong with you."  
  
"There's something in here!" she shrieked, frantically looking around her.  
  
Obi-Wan thought she was pulling a prank and rolled his eyes, "Come on Sitya, you don't think I'm dumb enough to fall for something like that?" he looked at her again and saw a head come out the water behind her. He screamed and fell into the water.  
  
"There's something in here!"  
  
Sitya moved the log out of the way and glared at him, "No shit Sherlock!" she hissed.  
  
"What's happening out there?"  
  
They turned and saw Gandalf on the water's edge, looking at them.  
  
"There's something in here!" they both shouted.  
  
The group on shore became restless and started surveying the water as well.  
  
Obi-Wan and Sitya were treading water beside each other and when Sitya turned to ask if he had seen anything else, she saw a head above the water between them. She reacted by pushing away from it without thinking and calmed herself down. "Who are you?" she asked.  
  
She saw Obi-Wan turn around as well and he saw the head, the others on shore did as well.  
  
The thing continued to stare at her curiously and Sitya returned the favor. Behind it, she Obi-Wan was nervously watching.  
  
It had bright red hair and a very pale complexion, as if it never saw the sun. "I've never seen any humans before. What does it feel like to have legs?"  
  
"Um… Just fine."  
  
A tail appeared above the water, which was as bright red just like the thing's hair. "I have fins, I've always wanted to have legs." It stated.  
  
Sitya didn't know what to say to that. She hoped that didn't mean that it wanted her legs.  
  
Obi-Wan spoke, "You're a mermaid."  
  
The mermaid turned around to face him and swam up close. "Yes that is correct. And you are a human."  
  
"What is it that you would like?" Sitya asked.  
  
Again the mermaid looked at her curiously, "We would like to help you."  
  
"We?"  
  
The mermaid nodded and then ducked under the water for a short time and then popped back up, along with another mermaid. This one looking male.  
  
"We are here to take you to our city, to the 'keepers'."  
  
Sitya looked ashore, to the waiting group, "All of us?"  
  
The male spoke, "No, your friends were allowed to bring one companion on their quest and you will be allowed to do the same. To bring everyone to the city would take a tremendous amount of effort and it would be exhausting."  
  
Sitya looked at Obi-Wan, "You're coming with me." She stated.  
  
"Why do I have to go?"  
  
"I'm not going to die and let you live to have a good time while I'm gone." She stated flatly. She turned to the group on shore and relayed what the merpeople had told them. "How are we supposed to breathe underwater?"  
  
The mermaid spoke again, "Special conditions have been made that will allow you to breathe with no pBoblems."  
  
Obi-Wan and Sitya swam back to shore quickly to gather their backpack's and swam back out to where the merpeople were waiting. The mermaid took Obi-Wan's hand, while the merman took Sitya's. "It may feel strange at first, underwater, but you'll get used to it." The merpeople than dove underwater, taking Sitya and Obi-Wan with them.  
  
  
  
The water was dark, with almost zero visibility. Sitya decided not to fight where the merman was taking her. She had to trust that they knew where they were going. As they went deeper, the water began to clear and Sitya could start making out her surroundings and even Obi-Wan swimming next to her.  
  
After about ten minutes, the water in front of them started to brighten and the merman told them they were near their city. "It's alright and possible for you to talk as well." He told the two humans.  
  
The city was grand and there were hundreds of merpeople swimming around it. Little merpeople came out and started swimming beside them, curiously studying the humans, that were allowed in their city. They were led to a building that looked to be made of seabed rock and were settled before the entrance.  
  
The mermaid spoke, "We will have to leave you here now, you and your companion must enter alone. We will be waiting for you here when you are finished."  
  
"Thank you." Sitya said and stepped into the building, Obi-Wan followed her in.  
  
In front of them sat three wizened, ancient merpeople, sitting on coral thrones.  
  
The one on the far left of the merpeople beckoned them forward, to stand before them. The merman looked down at Sitya and then turned his attention to Obi-Wan, studying both of them and smiled kindly. "It has been far too long, since I have seen humans, such wonderful and strange creatures."  
  
Sitya thought she could say the same for him, but decided now was not the time; to be making smart-ass remarks.  
  
"And it has been far to long since a new 'Guardian' has been on Middle-Earth or in this universe."  
  
Sitya became interested, "There are more of us?"  
  
The merman looked sad, "Not for a very long time. It is a story for another time."  
  
A mermaid spoke to them, "The stone which you are looking for is through the Deep Waters. You must be careful in there, it is full of evil and dangerous things."  
  
"Do you know what kinds of things?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"No merperson has gone into those waters and come out alive. Only the 'Guardian' is allowed, given what is thought to be a little protection to pass through safely."  
  
"But I am still in danger when I go in there." Sitya stated.  
  
Another merman answered her question, "That is correct."  
  
Obi-Wan looked nervous, "So that means that I'm going to die?"  
  
The last merperson, a mermaid spoke, "No. The other 'Guardians' have completed their missions of getting the stone and both of their companions are very much alive. There will be transportation for you to travel through the Deep Waters. Our best warrior 'Gutybhf' will take you through. They are strong and brave and will do their best to protect you.  
  
  
  
Obi-Wan stared at the overly large fish, "That's what's going to take us through the Deep Waters?" he whispered to Sitya.  
  
"I guess."  
  
The Gutybhf were black with little white spots covering them in different locations. They where saddled with soft coral and had leads in their mouths from seaweed. Sitya decided to approach them as something of a horse.  
  
The first mermaid and merman, came up beside them and helped to settle them in the saddle and how to properly handle the Gutybf.  
  
"Good luck," they both said solemnly.  
  
Sitya and Obi-Wan urged the fish forwards and the city looked on after them.  
  
  
  
Sitya started to whistle a tune, while the Gutybf glided through the water. She was having fun with the new experience of doing something like this underwater. Whenever she went to whistle little bubbles escaped her lips and floated up in front of her face.  
  
Obi-Wan watched her and thought it was funny that something so small could amuse someone like Sitya.  
  
Sitya looked over and saw that Obi-Wan was watching her and suddenly felt self-conscience. She really didn't like it when he looked at her like that. She was about to tell him her piece of mind when the Gutybf started to become twitchy. "What is it, boy?" she asked her escort. She looked over and saw that Obi-Wan's Gutybf was doing the same thing as hers. "Something's bothering them." She stated.  
  
Obi-Wan nodded in agreement and looked around in the dark waters. Below him he could see a circular pattern in the dirt floor, he felt something about this place and pointed it out to Sitya, "There's something down there."  
  
Sitya looked down as well and felt the same thing as Obi-Wan. This place felt like it was important. "Let's go down and check out what it's all about."  
  
They gently urged the Gutybf's down and were just starting their way, when two very large fish materialized in front of them. The Gutybf's reacted violently and started racing away, further down into the water. The large fish drew closer and Sitya got a good look at them. "They're friggin' huge sharks!" she said surprised.  
  
Obi-Wan turned around as well and saw the 'sharks' open their huge mouths at the same time. He immediately had the thought that he did not want to get up close and personal with them.  
  
The sharks split up and swam on either side of the frantically swimming Gutybf's and then turned sharply inward and attacked.  
  
The one on Sitya's side opened it's mouth and had the Gutybf in it for a millisecond and shut it quickly. The Gutybf and Sitya got away when the Gutybf gave everything it had for a new spurt of speed. The shark went down underneath them and Sitya could not see where it went. She looked over and saw that Obi-Wan had ignited his lightsaber and had given his shark a good slice that cut along it's length, from head to tail.  
  
Sitya marveled at the size of these things, there was definitely nothing this huge on Earth, even a Great White would have been swallowed in one bite. She turned her attention back to holding onto her Gutybf, it was swimming so fast she had to hold on tightly so as not to fall off.  
  
Obi-Wan's shark attacked again first. It came from above and Sitya shouted a warning to Obi-Wan, she was annoyed when she tried to yell, a bunch of bubbles came streaming out of her mouth.  
  
Obi-Wan reacted instantly and ignited his lightsaber to meet the shark. With one hand he held the lightsaber and in the other he held the reins of his Gutybf. When the shark was impossibly close he jerked the reins to the left, to avoid the shark's teeth. They missed by centimeters and Obi-Wan shoved the lightsaber into the thing's eye.  
  
The shark started twisting and turning in the water. The lightsaber leaving the shark's head with a cloud of blood coming out with it. The shark continued to violently react to what Obi-Wan had did to it and Sitya suspected that what Obi-Wan hit was what passed for the thing's brain. It slowly stopped moving and started to sink to the bottom.  
  
Obi-Wan glanced at her, "There's still one left."  
  
Sitya nodded understanding. Both looked around, above, below anywhere, to see if they could spot the last shark.  
  
"Maybe it decided to leave." She suggested. Her Gutybf leaped forward and Sitya flew off. The shark had come and attacked from below. Sitya's Gutybf had seen it coming and had moved without giving any warning.  
  
The shark came opening it's mouth wide, ready to swallow her. Sitya started kicking upwards and was able to move out of the way of the mouth, but landed on the thing's nose.  
  
The shark was traveling fast and the weight of the rushing water flattened her against the shark.  
  
It became angry when Sitya wouldn't let go, 'Fat chance in hell, I'm going to do that!' she thought. The shark began to open and close it's mouth, swishing it's head from side to side, trying to dislodge it's snack from where it was perched.  
  
What the shark was doing, was working and when it closed it's mouth again, Sitya lost her grip on the nose and frantically searched with her hands to find another place where she would be relatively. She grabbed on to the shark's lower mouth and saw that wasn't going to work because she was already falling off.  
  
Sitya saw no choice and risked letting go with one hand and grab onto to her lightsaber. Just as she grabbed onto her weapon, the shark shook it's head violently again and Sitya's grip came loose. Her lightsaber ignited, she plunged it into the shark's underside and as it swam, her lightsaber cut open it's belly.  
  
She reached the end of the shark and blood was everywhere, surrounding her. It was so thick, she couldn't see anything and hoped that the shark was dead and wouldn't come back for her threw the dark red fog.  
  
Sitya started to swim through the blood, hoping that it would end soon and she would be able to see what was happening. Her lightsaber was giving up bubbles and Sitya hoped that would not signal the thing back.  
  
She emerged from the cloud and saw that Obi-Wan was some distance to her left, searching the cloud of blood and hoping that she would come out. Sitya turned off her lightsaber and wearily started swimming over to him, "I'm over here."  
  
Obi-Wan looked over at her and urged his Gutybf to start towards her. "I didn't think that you would be alive." He stated frankly. "Your Gutybf took off somewhere, I didn't want to go chasing after it, in case you would come out and not know what was happening."  
  
Sitya nodded, "Where's the shark?"  
  
Obi-Wan pointed down, "You sliced it up pretty good. Slashed all the way down it's underbelly, and lots of blood. I don't think it's alive." He stated. "Are you alright?"  
  
Sitya nodded, "Yes. But I feel really dirty."  
  
Obi-Wan tried to make a joke, "How can you feel dirty when you're in water?"  
  
"You swim through gallons of blood and tell me how you feel." She climbed on his Gutybf and pointed to the still visible circle below them. "Let's go check out what that's all about."  
  
  
  
About thirty feet above the circle the Gutybf wouldn't go any closer, so Sitya and Obi-Wan climbed off and made their own way down to it.  
  
"I hope that thing stays put." Obi-Wan said. "I don't want to swim all the way back."  
  
Sitya shrugged, "Come on." She chided. "Since when has anything been easy for us?"  
  
The circle had a pit in it and in the pit they could see a top of a pillar and Sitya could just make out something small and spherical in the center of that.  
  
They swam over and looked down. It was filled with live snakes and Sitya had to shudder, "I hate snakes." She stated.  
  
Obi-Wan had to agree with her. "Well… What do we do? Swim over them?"  
  
Sitya didn't see that they had a choice and nodded. They slowly swam over the snakes, making sure that nothing happened when they did. They both reached the pillar and set down on it; it was huge, more than enough room to move around comfortably.  
  
Sitya glanced at the dark stone, "Let's get this over with." She quickly picked it up and stuffed it in her bag, but not quick enough not to feel that it was incredibly cold. She again zipped up her bag and nodded to Obi-Wan, both kicked off at the same time, swimming over the pit.  
  
While swimming, Obi-Wan felt a definite change in the environment, something hostile and evil. He quickened his pace and saw Sitya do the same. He looked down at the snakes and saw that they were starting to glow silver and it looked like they were massing together, forming a shapeless clump.  
  
He again started to swim faster, "Hurry up!" he yelled at Sitya.  
  
They reached the other side and then started to swim up to where the Gutybf was waiting, who was making small darts from side to side.  
  
Suddenly a bright silver barrier erupted in front of them and surrounded the pit and a little around it.  
  
Obi-Wan stopped, he didn't want to touch it and he looked back to see where Sitya was. She was right behind him and didn't want to touch the boundary surrounding them either. Looking further behind her, Obi-Wan saw something that he had not yet seen before. A giant snake-man had emerged from the pit and was swimming towards them. It spotted them and gave a hiss. "A 'Guardian'. It has been a long time since I have tasted 'Guardian'." The thing advanced and Sitya swam backward, watching the thing coming and wasn't watching that she was close to the silver boundary.  
  
It opened and then swallowed her up. Memories flooded into her head, bad memories, stuff that would give her nightmares for a very long time. From those memories she also heard instructions and mindlessly started to follow them. She reached out of the barrier and grabbed Obi-Wan, pulling him in. "Jackeruit Herguyt Saxceuty!" she raised her free hand and watched as a ball of silver fire gathered in her hands. When it was large and thBobbing with power she drew back her arm and hurled it at the evil monster on the other side, which was trying to get through the boundary and to them.  
  
The ball of fire exploded all over the monster and it started shrieking. Abruptly the silver barrier perished and Sitya and Obi-Wan where left floating where they were and with the full, unobstructed view of the snake-man's dying moments.  
  
Sitya was visibly drained as she watched the monster die and Obi-Wan looked concerned. "Let's get out of here."  
  
Sitya slowly nodded, feeling sleepy. They climbed back on the Gutybf, which started the long journey back to it's home.  
  
  
  
Troi's group was making good time on their way back east and a little south. Their last stage of their journey had begun, all that was left now was to get to Mordor, destroy the three stones and get rid of Sauron. 'No big deal.' Troi thought sarcastically. She thought of Earth again, it would be the 20th, a Thursday and grad was just over a week away.  
  
She was tired and grumpy, she had not been able to sleep ever since she had got the stone and stepped into that silver barrier. Memories that weren't hers, but were, haunted her dreams and her walking hours. Troi was seriously considering that she was going insane. She didn't want to think about those memories, they were awful and they drained her whenever they surfaced.  
  
She glanced around their camp, everyone in her group had been watching her, ever since she had gotten the stone. All of them sensed that something was different. Aragorn had come up to her a few times, to talk to her about it, but Troi didn't feel like saying, 'Yeah. I'm all right. It's just these voices in my head that keep bothering me.' She didn't think that would go over to well and people would definitely think that she was insane.  
  
The group had found another traveling party and Troi was slightly surprised when they said they were going in the same direction as they were. She had no idea why people would want to go that way, after all she had heard about Sauron and Mordor.  
  
The two parties shared food and drink, talking amongst each other and trading news. Of course, no one was to speak of what they were really doing.  
  
Troi moved over to the edge of the camp, where the vehicles were stationed. The new group had been fascinated by the machines and wanted to touch them. Aragorn had made it perfectly clear that they were not to be approached by anyone, but those who traveled with him. Troi sat down heavily on the ground and leaned her back against a tire of one of the vehicles. She had a terrible headache and she knew it was from lack of sleep, but she didn't want to rest. Because she knew what would happen if she did.  
  
Jack and Aragorn, saw her sitting and rubbing her temples. Aragorn sighed and turned to the young Jedi. "Do you think you would be able to get her to talk?"  
  
Jack shrugged, "I don't know. I've tried to talk to her before, but she always just blows things off. Says it's nothing. Do you have any idea what's wrong with her?"  
  
Aragorn nodded, "I have an idea. Gandalf, Elrond, Dumbledore and all other primary councilors, including me have discussed what is in the prophecies. We knew something like this would happen and we think we know how to fix it."  
  
Jack was angry and Qui-Gon came over to where they were standing. "You knew this would happen and you didn't say anything! Why didn't you tell them!" he demanded.  
  
Qui-Gon was surprised when he heard Jack yell; rarely did the Jedi ever loose his temper. He himself was upset, he never liked how the girls had been dragged into this and told almost nothing about what they were getting into.  
  
Aragorn showed his understanding, "We didn't know if this would happen and we needed the 'Guardians' to help us. Without them, everything would fail and Middle-Earth would be a waste land."  
  
Jack was still seriously upset. He hated this mission and wanted to leave now, along with Troi. He looked up at Aragorn again, "Help her. Now." He whispered furiously.  
  
Aragorn nodded and started to walk to where Troi was sitting. Jack followed, not trusting him any longer.  
  
Troi's head snapped up when she heard them coming. Her eyes were wide and scared and Jack seriously hoped that Aragorn would be able to help.  
  
"Hello, Troi." Aragorn started slowly. "Are you alright?"  
  
Troi nodded her head vigorously, she wanted them to go away, "Yes. Everything is fine." She said quickly.  
  
Aragorn sighed and glanced up at Jack.  
  
Jack looked at Troi and tried to be gentle, when he was really mad at her. He wanted to help her and she wouldn't let him. "No, Troi. Everything's not fine." He said slowly watching her reaction, she remained silent looking everywhere, but him and Aragorn. "You've changed Troi. Something's bothering you and we want to help."  
  
Troi began to cry, "I hear things. In my head and from the stone." She started playing with the pouch that contained the stone wrapped around her neck. "And they're awful. I can't sleep, because they'll come. Even when I'm awake they come. It feels like there's something inside and it's running all over inside. It hurts." She finished.  
  
Jack looked at Aragorn, who nodded. He knew how to fix it. "What you are talking about is memories from past 'Guardians'. They are yours now and you have to accept that."  
  
Troi shook her head. "No way! Those are not mine! They're awful and I don't want them."  
  
"You have to accept them Troi." Aragorn continued gently. "You are a 'Guardian' and you have to accept the fact that those memories are yours now."  
  
Troi looked down at her hands, "If those memories are ones of 'Guardians' I don't want to be one. I don't want to have those same memories, I don't want to live the same kind of live they did."  
  
"Troi, with bad memories come good ones. You just have to search for them."  
  
Troi raised her hands to her temples and began to massage them again. "I'm so tired."  
  
Aragorn nodded his head again, "All those bad memories are a test to see if you are really a true 'Guardian'. They are testing you to see if you are indeed worthy."  
  
Troi made a face. "I don't have to prove anything to anyone."  
  
Aragorn gave her a smile. "That's precisely what you need think, to get rid of all that awful stuff that's inside you now."  
  
Troi looked at him and then closed her eyes. Inside herself, she confronted what was there and found that what Aragorn had said was true. She attacked everything bad in her, with the thought that she didn't need to prove herself and they retreated.  
  
Troi again opened her eyes and looked at Aragorn, "You're right. Some of it's gone."  
  
Aragorn nodded his approval. The way things were going, Troi would indeed prove herself to be a true 'Guardian'. "Why don't you go do something fun for a while. You haven't done that enough." He paused and looked down at her, and asked sheepishly, "You wouldn't mind if you made some of your 'thrown together stew', would you?"  
  
Troi laughed, which made the rest of the group look over at her, things were getting back to normal. "Sure. Why not?"  
  
  
  
The whole group had eaten and where wondering around their camp and the other party's. The other party had even opened up a bottle of whiskey. Troi had thought that it would be funny, if she and Jack had a drinking competition.  
  
She filled two very large canteens and brought them over to where their bedrolls were spread out. The whiskey was really strong and Troi knew she would have a headache in the morning. Not from the awful things that were in her head, but just from being drunk.  
  
Troi looked over distastefully at Jack, he didn't seem the least bit drunk. "Why aren't you woozy?" she asked.  
  
Jack shot her a grin, "Old Jedi trick. I didn't take anymore than two gulps."  
  
Troi stared at him. She had had at least one whole canteen and she had seen Jack drink just as much as she from the other one.  
  
"I just tilted my head back, but didn't swallow." He explained.  
  
Troi became mad and got up to punch him. She missed entirely and ended up on her face, beside him.  
  
Jack started laughing, "You know, for someone who goes out and does dangerous things, that needs your capability of hitting something you're not very good. How have you survived this long."  
  
Troi got angry again and sat up. "Just stay still and I will hit you."  
  
Jack continued laughing and held out his hand, a foot away from her face. "If you can hit my hand, with one shot, I'll give you all the money I've got. If you miss, I get all your money."  
  
Troi looked at the hand doubtfully and then at Jack's, "You don't have any money and neither do I."  
  
Jack shrugged, "I'll figure out something."  
  
Troi then turned back to the hand in front of her, well actually it was starting to become two. Troi drew back her hand and tried to hit Jack's. Again she ended up flat on her face.  
  
Jack was laughing so hard, he had tears in his eyes. He didn't see it when Troi got up again and finally made contact, in his stomach.  
  
Troi grinned triumphantly as she watched Jack try to catch his breath. "Give me your money." She demanded.  
  
Jack sucked in some air, "I think the deal was that you had to hit my hand, with one shot."  
  
Troi scowled.  
  
"I think that you owe me your money."  
  
She scowled again, "I told you. I don't have any money."  
  
Jack grinned and said, "Well. I guess I'll have to settle for a kiss."  
  
  
  
Back on Earth, the day would be the 21st. Dawn wanted to go home, she had started to hate this place and started not to care about what would happen here, if she and her friends failed in their mission. She fiddled with the stone around her neck. Arwen had given her a necklace with a little pouch to put it in. She was constantly reminded that it was there. It said things to her and it wouldn't shut up.  
  
They had made their way south again and were turning a little bit east. So they would reach Mordor. Dawn had a headache and she wanted a bath. She felt dirty and tired. Her head snapped up when she thought that. No way was she tired. Don't even think about that.  
  
In the dying light of the sun, Dawn's group crested a hill and stared down at a kingdom. She could see thousands of people milling about the streets and Dawn desperately wanted to stop there, to get cleaned up.  
  
She looked over at Elrond and saw him hesitate on the hill looking down on the city. 'What was wrong with him?' She thought irritably. It was a chance to stay somewhere other than the outdoors and in the squished confines of the vehicles.  
  
"Why don't we stay here?" Dawn demanded.  
  
Elrond looked over at her, worried. Ever since she and Rick had come out of the cave with the stone, she had changed. He feared what it might be and if she would not be able to overcome it. He looked at his daughter, Arwen, who nodded. He didn't like it, but he announced that they would stay in the city.  
  
They abandoned the vehicles and slowly made their way down the hill and made it to the gates. Everyone from Middle-Earth was surprised when they were allowed in without question. This city, 'Uperqvery', was not known for welcoming visitors and it was rumored that it had joined forces with Sauron.  
  
A guard saw them approach and looked at Dawn, who was angrily, looking about her wondering what the hold up was. He knew what he had to do. He bade them in and that they follow him to the castle where the king and queen where waiting for them. Everyone, but Dawn, were ill at ease about this sudden invitation to the castle.  
  
  
  
Dawn stood in her assigned chambers and looked around. Her eyes rested on the bed longingly, she so wanted to sleep, but the awful visions in her head stopped her from giving further thought to that. She had not slept in days and was beginning to get a headache.  
  
She went to the closet, looked inside it and selected a very light purple gown. The king and queen had invited them to dinner and Dawn was looking forward to a properly prepared feast.  
  
She had just finished tying up the gown when there was a knock on the door. She opened it and saw, Elrond, Arwen and Rick standing in the doorway. "What do you want?" she demanded.  
  
"We've come to see if you are alright." Arwen stated.  
  
Dawn waved them off, "Of course I'm alright." She stated and started closing the door on them.  
  
"I don't think you are, Dawn." Rick said.  
  
Dawn became angry, "I'm fine now leave me alone!"  
  
She again tried to close the door when Elrond stopped her. "I think we need to talk."  
  
Her tempered flared, "Well I know I don't have to!"  
  
She became even angrier when the three stepped into the room and then closed the door. She stalked to her bed where her lightsaber lay and ignited it, "Get out!"  
  
Rick looked at her calmly and stepped in front of the two elves, "Something is very wrong with you Dawn. You would have never pulled your lightsaber at us before, without a good reason. All we want to do is talk."  
  
Dawn looked dumbly at her lightsaber and then shut it off quickly, throwing it on her bed. She sat heavily on the floor and gathered her knees to her chest. "I don't know what's wrong with me."  
  
Arwen knelt beside her and placed a hand gently on her knee, "I think you know what's wrong with you. You just don't know how to deal with it."  
  
Dawn started to cry and then spoke in a rush. "It's all inside me. These awful things. They show stuff that I've never done, but it feels like it's mine. I feel like my head is going to explode."  
  
Elrond nodded his head gravely. "What is inside you now is a test. All the memories of previous 'Guardians'." He paused. "There might even be some new memories in there. Some of your very own and your friends. There are also some good in those visions you see. There is always good in something that is bad."  
  
Dawn didn't want to see if he was right, no way was she going to let those memories loose inside her. "I don't want to be here anymore."  
  
Arwen rubbed her knee. "But you are. And you are strong. You have to fight what is inside you Dawn. Remember it's a test. One that you must pass."  
  
"How am I supposed to do that?"  
  
"For each person it will be different, you have to approach it in your own way."  
  
Dawn nodded, feeling again like herself with support around her. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the visions that were now inside her. She held on to the thought that everything bad had something good.  
  
Indeed when she thought about it there was good. Where she had once seen pain, she now saw laughter and happiness. She shifted through some more of the memories, just to see if she could handle them now.  
  
When she was satisfied she opened her eyes and again looked the three surrounding her, "I'm alright now." She told them truthfully.  
  
  
  
The diner was fantastic and Dawn again headed up to her room, this time with an escort in the form of Rick. Everyone in the group had been jumpy and suspicious and she wanted to know why.  
  
Rick stepped into her chambers. Dawn carefully closed the door, glancing outside to see if there was anyone standing around. "Why is everyone so jumpy?" she asked.  
  
Rick had gone over to the window and was checking outside, it was a long way down. "Elrond and the others from Middle-Earth don't trust this king and his queen."  
  
Dawn was confused, "But they seem alright."  
  
Rick nodded slowly, "Yes… But Elrond has also said that this kingdom very rarely is open to strangers and there are rumors that it has allied themselves with Sauron."  
  
Dawn looked at him in amazement. Could she have been that distracted with what was going on inside her?  
  
Rick took her hands, "Please be careful. Don't do anything that would endanger you." He pleaded.  
  
Dawn just nodded her head, she didn't know what else to do.  
  
Rick got closer and his eyes bore into hers. Dawn started to get scared. Was he going to kiss her?  
  
She heard a low growl coming from above Rick's head and saw a pair of feline eyes looking down on them. It jumped and landed on the back of Rick's neck.  
  
Their lips brushed as Rick jumped away from her and reached for the cat clinging to him at the same time. He started prancing around the room, yelling at the idiotic thing to get off him.  
  
Dawn started to laugh as she watched him and continued to do so when he had the cat off. It darted under her bed.  
  
Rick looked over at her and started to laugh as well. "Good night." He walked towards the door, opened it and then walked out of her room.  
  
Dawn was a little sorry that he left and became angry at the cat for interrupting what he was going to do. Which totally surprised her. Was he going to kiss her?  
  
  
  
Sitya sat nervously on one of the Jeeps, which was slowly making it's way south, to where Mordor and Sauron awaited them. She felt like everyone was staring at her and was scared by that, everywhere she looked she thought someone was planning to kill her or something. She was always mindful of the stone that was tied around her neck and it felt like it was dragging her down. She wanted to get rid of it, it kept calling her and Sitya was afraid that she might give into whatever it wanted, even though she didn't know what it was.  
  
Everyone else was paying attention to where they were going but they were fully aware that Sitya had changed. She hadn't said or done anything to Obi-Wan that would try to get a rise out of him for three days, the time that had passed, since she had collected the stone. Everyone was worried, especially Obi-Wan when she didn't say something sarcastic when he tripped over a root and fell in a puddle of mud.  
  
Gandalf led the way and paused on the trail. One way continued on south and the other turned east again. "This way leads to Mordor, however there is no town down this way, for shelter and supplies." He pointed to the south. He then pointed to the east, "There is a city down this way, that will be able to give what we need."  
  
Legolas stepped up to him and spoke, "Gandalf, that place isn't very safe for woman."  
  
Lara spoke up from beside Sitya, "I can take care of myself thank you very much."  
  
Gandalf looked at her and spoke, "I do believe you could. But there is a whole city of men, who will take advantage of you. Will you be able to stand up against thousands?"  
  
Lara reluctantly shook her head. "How are we supposed to go into that city if it's so dangerous?"  
  
"Women are treated as property. You will have to pretend that you are married to one of us."  
  
Kahlan didn't have a pBoblem with that, since she was already married to Richard. Lara didn't like this idea, but went with Riggs. And Sitya was put with Obi-Wan.  
  
"Any pBoblems with that?" Gandalf asked Sitya.  
  
She jumped when he spoke to her and hurriedly spoke, "No, no. I don't have a pBoblem."  
  
Something was seriously wrong with that.  
  
  
  
Before the group was to reach the city, Gandalf decided to talk to Sitya, already having a good idea of what was wrong with her. He was scared that she wouldn't be able to overcome it.  
  
Gandalf went over to talk to her, Obi-Wan, Lara and Legolas following him. "Sitya we must talk."  
  
Sitya looked up at the people from where she was sitting and felt like they were cornering her. "What do you want?" she stuttered.  
  
Lara squatted down beside her, "We're worried about you."  
  
"Why?" She moved away from Lara.  
  
"There's something that's bothering you." Legolas said.  
  
"No there isn't!" she said quickly and looked frantically at all of them.  
  
"Yes there is Sitya." Obi-Wan said. "You have to tell us, what's wrong."  
  
Sitya burst into tears. "They won't be quiet! All I hear are screams. And I can't stop them!"  
  
"How long have these screams been with you?" Gandalf asked.  
  
Sitya sniffed, "Since I went into that silver barrier. They haven't stopped since then. They're even worse when I try to sleep. I can't sleep anymore."  
  
"You're going to have to accept that what you see and hear is apart of you now. If you don't it may kill you."  
  
Sitya moaned, "I wanna go home."  
  
Obi-Wan got down in front of her and made her look at him, "Come on, Sitya. You can do it. Just fight it."  
  
Sitya shook her head, "I don't want to. I wanna go home."  
  
Obi-Wan became angry and shook her, "Yes you do. You can fight."  
  
For once in three days, Sitya's eyes became normal and she flashed Obi-Wan a glare. "Don't tell me what to do." She closed her eyes when the awful memories came back and let out another moan. She thought happy thoughts and placed them up against them. It was working and slowly she regained control of her own thoughts. Her eyes again opened and then looked at Obi-Wan, she remembered what had happened a few minutes ago. "Do we still have to pretend that we're married?"  
  
Lara smiled, "I think that you guys already sound like a married couple."  
  
  
  
The group hid their equipment in the trees and bushes, surrounding the city. Zedd and Gandalf, put extra protection on it, a cloaking spell, so that others would just walk right by it.  
  
The city was large, but very dirty and Sitya could definitely pick out the seedier parts of the city.  
  
The three women of the group, Lara, Kahlan and Sitya had to stick close to the men. They saw what happened to women that were 'unclaimed' and neither of them wanted the same thing to happen to them.  
  
Gandalf and Legolas picked out the best hotel they could find and walked in. The two went to the booth will the others waited and talked a bit with the owner. The owner was shaking his head and pointed to a table in the corner, those sitting at that table got up and moved over to where the two where standing. Gandalf and Legolas seemed suspicious, but it seemed that they would agree to do what the men had said.  
  
"It seems that the king of this city is expecting us." Gandalf told them.  
  
Sitya was confused, "Why?"  
  
Gandalf shrugged, "I think that we will have to be careful of what we say and do."  
  
  
  
Sitya paced in her room, 'More like a prison,' she thought. It was horribly drab and dusty, she wanted to get out and do something. It seemed to her that she had wasted three days of her life, because of her episode of having nightmares and being able to deal with it.  
  
Obi-Wan came in, sat down on the bed and started taking off his shoes. Sitya was about to yell at him to get out of her room, but remembered that they were supposed to be married. And because they were married, they had to sleep in the same room. She really hated this.  
  
Sitya glared as Obi-Wan flopped down on the bed and tried to sleep. Sitya picked up her jacket and was almost out the door when Obi-Wan caught her.  
  
"Where are you going?" he peeped open an eye and glanced over at her.  
  
"I'm going out."  
  
Obi-Wan sat up and looked at her, "You know it's not safe."  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes. I know. But Gandalf even said that there was something funny going on around here and I want to try to find out."  
  
Obi-Wan sighed and raised a hand for her to stop, "Wait for me, I'll put my boots on and we'll go together."  
  
  
  
Obi-Wan and Sitya walked down the twisting alleys of the city. She hated the way women were treated and wished she could do something about that. She glanced behind her again and saw the same three men that had been following them ever since they had left the castle.  
  
She looked up at Obi-Wan and saw that he had seen the same as her.  
  
"We should get rid of them." She stated. She wanted to do a bit of looking without someone tailing her.  
  
Obi-Wan nodded, he started to walk faster and came up on a turn in the alleyway and ducked into it. He immediately jumped up to the top of the wall and reached down for Sitya. When he had her on top of the wall with him they both jumped down on the other side and calmly walked into the next alley.  
  
Sitya saw that they were in one of the more seedier parts of town, prostitutes lined the walkways and trying to do their form of business. Sitya made a face, no way would she do something like that even if her life depended on it.  
  
Obi-Wan saw the same thing and steered Sitya back to where the castle was and relative safety. He stopped when he saw the same men and more come around the corner and they started to search the surrounding area. He also noticed that they didn't pay much attention to the prostitutes and the dark figures in the shadows. He had an idea and he already knew that Sitya would hate it, in fact she might even kill him when it was over with.  
  
He ducked into the shadows pulling Sitya along with him.  
  
Sitya wasn't paying attention when Obi-Wan took her to where there were figures making out in the dark, her attention was too fixated on the approaching men. 'What do they want?' she wondered. She looked around her and saw where Obi-Wan was taking her, she was absolutely horrified, "What are you doing!" she hissed.  
  
Obi-Wan looked at her calmly, "They're looking for us. But they're not searching in the shadows at all. We might have a chance if we stay in here and act like them." He pointed around the darkness and the figures in it.  
  
Sitya looked at him with her mouth open, "No way am I going to make out with you!"  
  
Obi-Wan started to get upset, "Look. It's the best I can think of at the moment and I think it might work. We only have to pretend." He glanced at the entrance to the alley to see if the men had yet reached it. They hadn't, but that didn't mean they wouldn't. He again looked down at Sitya, "You afraid you might like it?" he teased.  
  
Sitya turned beet red and hoped he wouldn't see it in the dark.  
  
He started to push her up against the wall and Sitya felt her blush deepen, she really hoped this would be over soon. Obi-Wan leaned down and covered his body over hers and Sitya had to fight not to squirm. He made it so she could see over his shoulder and the entrance beyond. 'Please let this be over soon.'  
  
Sitya sucked in her breath when she saw three men stand in the alley entrance and peer in. "They're here." She whispered and felt Obi-Wan nod. She groaned when she saw another man, step beside the others and point inside. It seemed that they were going to start and check the alleys and those in them.  
  
"They're coming in here!" she whispered harshly.  
  
Obi-Wan was stuck, he didn't know what else to do. He risked a glance backward and saw three men, searching the dark. They weren't really searching, but walking through the alley and seeing if there was anything suspicious happening. They got closer and Obi-Wan let out a breath.  
  
When they were almost at where Sitya and Obi-Wan were hiding, he hurriedly said, "I'm sorry."  
  
Sitya had no idea what he was talking about, but he kissed her right there and then, just as the first search person walked behind them.  
  
  
  
Back home it was June the 23rd; Troi and her group had left the other party that they had met. Aragorn had started to distrust their companions. They seemed to be hanging on to their every word. And just they way they looked at them made him feel edgy. Their special interest was in Troi. And Aragorn found that quite disturbing, it could be a coincidence that they had interest in the 'Guardian' but, then again, it could be something that was planned and it could lead to her being hurt and their mission would then fail.  
  
The journey to Mordor was going quickly and if all went well they would be there in about two days, if they kept this speed up. The party had passed through the mountains and it was generally all plains now for the rest of the journey.  
  
Aragorn was leading the group and he looked back to the rest. He was relieved that Troi was okay now, and she was acting her normal self, laughing and joking with everyone. He would still have to keep a close eye on her; after all she was the 'Guardian' and a lot depended on her and her friends.  
  
He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw something coming towards them. He started to get an awful feeling in his stomach. Aragorn slowed his pace and let Blade come up beside him. The vampire hunter's eyes were amazingly good; he could see almost anything when he wanted to.  
  
He quietly pointed out the approaching something and asked Blade if he could see what it was.  
  
Blade turned and looked, "They're on horses. That much I can tell. Wait a minute… they're the group we just left a little while ago."  
  
Aragorn wasn't surprised, his suspicions confirmed. The band they had left were allied with Sauron and they were on their way to finish what they were instructed to do. Either kill all of them, or above all else, kill Troi and take her stone to Sauron.  
  
Aragorn and Blade turned to their own group and started barking instructions about what they had to do before their pursuers arrived.  
  
  
  
Dawn and her group had felt uncomfortable about staying at Redvuzas, with the hospitality of the king and its queen. Dawn had always felt like the people in that city were watching her, always ready to pounce when she wasn't looking or prepared. The king and queen had tried to cover up the obvious spying with gifts. Most of which Dawn and her friends had turned down, but Dawn had decided that the gift of a beautiful chestnut horse was something that could not be returned. She reasoned that the horse shouldn't have to stay at a place like that. She was afraid that if something went wrong or for no good reason the horse would be whipped. She couldn't bear the thought of her horse getting whipped for any reason.  
  
She was riding her chestnut mare now, Safeara and gently scratched its neck while it continued to follow the group ahead of her. Safeara was very easy to handle and did not slow the party down very much and Elrond had said it would be okay for her to keep Safeara because they were already so close to Mordor and they would reach it, even with the mare tagging along.  
  
Rick came up along side her. He was walking, because he wanted to stretch his legs and he just wanted to talk to Dawn. He remembered last time he came over to talk, while riding in one of the jeeps. Dawn had yelled at him to get lost, because the vehicle was scaring her horse. "How are you doing?"  
  
Dawn glanced down from Safeara, "All right." She really didn't know what to say, because she was still thinking about that one night when the cat jumped on Rick, she still didn't know if was really going to kiss and how she would have reacted if he did.  
  
Rick walked along beside her in silence for awhile, thinking the same thing. 'What was I doing?' Would he have really kissed her, if the cat didn't jump on him? He had started to like Dawn as their journey progressed, but didn't know if a closer relationship was a good idea. 'Would she go out with me?' he wondered.  
  
Dawn didn't know what to talk about and felt almost idiotic when she started talking about grad. "There's this party thing back home on the 29th. My and my classes graduation party." She paused thinking 'What am I doing?' "Would you like to come? I mean, if we get out of this mess in time."  
  
Rick looked up at her surprised. 'Was that a date?' Rick tried to sound casual "Sure. I think I might need something to wear though."  
  
Dawn smacked her head. "Crap!! I haven't gotten my dress! I hope we have time to do that before the party."  
  
Rick started laughing, "You haven't got your dress yet? From all the stuff I've heard from other girls, you were supposed to get that like six months ago."  
  
Dawn flashed an angry stare at him, "If you haven't noticed, I've had other things on my mind. Like dodging bullets and trying to stay alive when people are out to kill me and my friends."  
  
Rick raised his hands, "Touché."  
  
Sam came running up to them, "Elrond has spotted something following us. He says to look out for anything that looks like it's coming to attack."  
  
"Are they from the city?" Dawn questioned.  
  
Sam nodded, "Elrond thinks so."  
  
  
  
Obi-Wan and Sitya had come straight back to the castle after the alley experience and told them what had happened. It was Sitya who told them and left out certain parts. Gandalf then immediately had them pack up and said they would leave as soon as everything was ready and when he thought no one would be looking.  
  
They had escaped from the city about an hour ago, which was morning and were at the vehicles, starting them up and getting ready to leave.  
  
Obi-Wan came up to Sitya, who was throwing supplies in the back of a jeep that she would be driving. "Gandalf told me I should go with you."  
  
Sitya stopped what she was doing and looked at him, "Alright…" she said slowly and then resumed putting stuff in the back of the jeep. Putting a bow and arrows up front, where she could easily reach them, and a few guns and clips to go with it. She moved quickly and as far away from Obi- Wan as possible.  
  
"Look, Sitya. Are you avoiding me, because of what happened in the alley?"  
  
Sitya continued to work on the jeep, but all she was really doing was moving things around that were perfectly fine where they were.  
  
"Is it?"  
  
Sitya slowly climbed out of the jeep and stood looking at him. "Yes. I guess it is."  
  
"You do know that that pBobably saved us and the others. If we didn't get out of there and warn them, we might not be here right now."  
  
Sitya nodded and went back to work on the jeep.  
  
Obi-Wan grabbed her arm and stopped her from moving, "I'm sorry if that's made you uncomfortable."  
  
Sitya was frustrated, "Damn right that made me uncomfortable! I haven't exactly done that before you know."  
  
Obi-Wan was confused, "What? Doing that on a mission or being kissed?"  
  
Sitya opened her mouth and then shut it again, "I don't have to answer that."  
  
Obi-Wan grinned, "It's both isn't it."  
  
Sitya growled, "Shut up."  
  
"I gave you your first kiss!" he exclaimed loudly and the others in the group turned to look at them.  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
Obi-Wan became defensive. "I'm not that bad of a kisser. Would you have rather been in that alley with Malfoy?"  
  
Sitya glanced at the sniveling blonde kid from Hogwarts; he did have a point there.  
  
Obi-Wan decided to throw her off again, "What was better. The little bath episode or the one in the alley?"  
  
Sitya looked over at him, how was she supposed to answer that. "I don't have to answer that. Either way I lose."  
  
"Come on. It's just a question."  
  
"Ever heard of 'curiosity killed the cat'?"  
  
Obi-Wan backed off and sat down on the passengers side of the jeep Sitya and himself would be sharing.  
  
Legolas came through the trees, "They are coming."  
  
  
  
Troi's group had to stop, they couldn't expect themselves to walk through the night without any sleep. Elrond set up a schedule for lookouts and had the vehicles ready to be off at a moment's notice.  
  
Troi and Jack would be on the last shift, so they settled down with others of their group to sleep.  
  
Troi couldn't sleep at all; she kept waking up when she thought she heard something that didn't belong there. She rolled over and saw Aragorn and Blade walking around the camp, watching out for anything that was not supposed to happen or be seen.  
  
Troi couldn't sleep any way, so she got up and walked over to Aragorn. She sat down beside him on the ground, leaning against a very large tree trunk. He glanced at her, giving a small smile.  
  
"I never thanked you for what you did for me. Thank you."  
  
Aragorn gave her a nod, "I was glad I could help." He didn't look at her again, but continued to stare out into the darkness surrounding them.  
  
"Seen anything yet?" she asked nervously.  
  
He shook his head. "Blade hasn't even seen anything yet and his eyes are far better than mine. Why are you up?"  
  
"Couldn't sleep."  
  
He looked at her quickly with alarm, "You're not having nightmares again, are you?"  
  
Troi shook her head quickly, "No. Everything about that is fine. It's just that I know there is something out there and I don't know where it is. I keep waking up when I here the wind blow."  
  
"You should really get some sleep."  
  
Troi shrugged and tried to joke, "Are you trying to get rid of me?"  
  
Aragorn gave a short laugh and then went still, gazing intently into the darkness.  
  
Troi became rigid as well and looked to where Aragorn was looking. She didn't see anything, but that didn't tell her much.  
  
She felt a swish beside her head and was dismayed when she looked back and saw an arrow quivering in the trunk of the tree she was leaning against.  
  
  
  
Aragorn's reaction was instant, he shouted a warning and everyone in the camp got up, wide-awake. He grabbed Troi's arm and bolted into the middle of the camp. He found Jack and placed Troi beside him.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"They're here. Don't let her out of your sight." He ran back to the edge of the camp where the rest of the group was gathered and where the emerging intruders were making themselves known.  
  
"Do you have you lightsaber?"  
  
Troi nodded and unclipped it from her belt.  
  
Jack nodded in satisfaction, and looked for Qui-Gon while he took Troi to one of jeeps for better protection from the arrows that were starting to pour down from the sky.  
  
He made Troi sit on the ground beside the jeep and knelt down beside her. "We'll wait here and see what happens."  
  
Troi was angry, she wanted to help.  
  
Qui-Gon came and sat next to them, "Are you two alright?"  
  
Both of them nodded.  
  
"I'm going to be over there." He pointed to his left where Indiana Jones and Harry Potter were trying to hold off the intruders. He took off when he finished giving them instructions about what he expected them to do.  
  
The arrows intensified and it seemed that they were being concentrated where the two were sitting.  
  
Jack ignited his lightsaber and began to cut off the arrow's descent, Troi followed suit, tired of just sitting around and watching everyone else do the work.  
  
Troi was getting good with her lightsaber and only a few arrows escaped her blade and fell near her feet.  
  
Jack wasn't happy about her doing anything putting her in danger and yelled at her to get behind him. Troi just ignored him and continued to do what she was doing.  
  
Troi glanced over and saw Hermoine by herself, surrounded be ten men. She was concentrating really hard making little fires and hurling them at the people surrounding her. It looked like she was going to fall over, she was so tired. Troi could see the little beads of sweat gathered on her forehead.  
  
Troi glanced back at Jack who had taken his attention off her and was looking at where Master Qui-Gon was fighting. He wasn't going to be much help. She decided to run over and help Hermoine by herself. Everyone else seemed to have their hands full.  
  
She charged over and had cut down five of the men, before they reacted to her presence. She went to engage another man, and Hermoine quickly finished off the other four and nodded her thanks to Troi.  
  
"Come on! Let's get back to that jeep right there!" she pointed to where Jack was still deflecting arrows. He had seen where she had gone and was furious that she had left where she was instructed to stay.  
  
Hermoine and Troi dodged arrows and slowly started making their way back to their cover.  
  
Jack ran out to assist them on their way back and saw a very large ugly something come out of the shadows and started making frightening progress to where Troi was. In fact it was a beeline right for her. The thing was dressed all in black, covering it from head to toe and masking its face. It's hands and feet, were also covered in a black type of material that looked like very hard armor.  
  
"Troi look out!" he shouted.  
  
Qui-Gon heard him yell and glanced over to where she was. He too saw the huge shape coming up from behind her. Troi didn't heat the warning, she had engaged another man that had slipped through the edges of their camp and was attacking her. She made short work of the man, but that had slowed her down and the huge monster came closer to where she was standing.  
  
The monster drew out a large black blade when it was ten feet away from her. Jack started running towards her at that moment and Qui-Gon did as well.  
  
Troi turned and saw the two Jedi running towards her and them screaming and pointing behind her. Troi was puzzled at first, the only thing she thought they were trying to warn her of was something was behind her. She turned around just as the monster stepped right up to her and plunged the blade into her stomach.  
  
  
  
Troi was shocked, she didn't feel anything at first, but when the thing in front of her wretched the blade from her body, she felt the most amazing pain she had in her life. She knelt down slowly onto the ground holding her belly. She looked down and saw that her hands were already covered in blood and it had already started soaking into the ground. The wound was hideous, the monster hadn't put the blade directly in the center of her stomach but at the edge of her left. It felt horrible and Troi just wanted to fall asleep and make it go away.  
  
She dimly heard someone calling her name and lifted her heavy head to see who it was. Through cloudy eyes she saw Jack in front of her and looking at her with concern written all over his face, he was talking to her, but she couldn't hear what he was saying through the roar that was in her ears. She hazily saw the corpse of the thing that had stabbed her, cut in two and still smoking.  
  
Troi closed her eyes. She wanted to go to sleep.  
  
  
  
Qui-Gon raced to where Troi and Jack were on the ground as the battle around them continued. It wasn't as intense as it was before, the amount of arrows were diminishing and the number of pursuers were thinning out.  
  
Qui-Gon reached them, "Where was she hit?" he desperately asked. He couldn't help but notice all the blood that was on the ground and what covered Troi.  
  
"She's stabbed just on her left. The blade went all the way through." Jack choked out.  
  
Qui-Gon nodded and took off his Bobe and started to try and wrap it around Troi's gaping wound. Even being a Jedi for as long as he had, the wound before him right now made him sick.  
  
"Give me your Bobe." Qui-Gon held out his hand for Jack's Bobe. "Keep pressure on her front and back." He instructed. When he saw that Jack was doing what he was told, he ignited his lightsaber and start shredding Jack's Bobe into strips, preparing them for future bandages. He glanced up from his work and saw that the battle was finished. The group was slowly coming over to where they were sitting and stared down at Troi. Qui-Gon's Bobe was already soaked in blood. "Someone go get the first aid kit." He shouted.  
  
He gently started to take off his bloody Bobe and saw that Troi's eyes were closed. "Troi wake up." He said softly. He looked over at Jack. "Try to wake her up." He instructed and then turned back to again taking his Bobe off her.  
  
Jack kneeled in front of her and tried to wake her up with soft words, "Come on Troi. Wake up." He touched her face and Troi's eyes opened.  
  
"I feel horrible." She stated.  
  
Jack gave a little laugh, "You look horrible." He sobered up. "You have to stay awake Troi."  
  
"I'm tired though."  
  
"Troi, I'll be very upset if you fall asleep again."  
  
Troi nodded her head slowly.  
  
Qui-Gon looked over at her. "Jack let's put her into a Jedi Healing Trance. That should slow the bleeding and keep her alive for a little while. We can figure out what to do then."  
  
Jack took his eyes off Troi's pale face. "Both of us put her into a Trance?"  
  
Qui-Gon nodded, "It's going to have to be a really powerful one to stop the bleeding."  
  
Jack nodded.  
  
Qui-Gon took the first aid kit from John McClane and quickly put cloth over her wounds and then instructed Jack of what to do, to put Troi in a trance and then they would have to discuss what they would have to do to keep her alive. Qui-Gon grimly already knew that what they need was a miracle.  
  
  
  
It was night, but Dawn's group decided that the people pursuing them were too close for them to stop and rest. Luckily the group was on a plain and she could still ride her horse, Elrond said that she need not worry about holes in the ground and such. The horse wouldn't have to worry about stepping into any holes and breaking a leg.  
  
Although Elrond hated to leave the lights on, on the vehicles, it was the only way for them to see in the dark and continue their journey. The moon and the stars hardly gave any light at all and it would have been dangerous to travel without them. The lights were like a beacon to those behind them.  
  
Everyone was paired up with someone else and everyone was staring out into the darkness, looking for any sign that was threatening.  
  
Arrows started pouring down on them and what seemed like hundreds of horses and riders appeared out of the grass surrounding them.  
  
The riders broke into the group's defenses without trouble and caused mass hysteria. Dawn's horse became skittish and wanted to bolt away from the menace surrounding it. Dawn tried to calm her horse down and ignite her lightsaber at the same time. It wasn't working and after a hard fight, the horse broke away from the group and vanished into the darkness. A figure dressed in black separated form the ambushing group and charged after her.  
  
  
  
Rick saw Dawn and the black rider disappear, into the darkness. He turned to Elrond and told him what happened. Using his lightsaber on the attackers at the same time. "Dawn's horse bolted into the dark, and a figure dressed in black raced after her. I'm going in as well."  
  
Elrond turned to him, concerned, "Are you sure that it was a black figure?"  
  
Rick nodded, cutting off an attacker's head.  
  
Elrond turned to him, "You must go and find her before the dark figure does. He is one of Sauron's servants and will try to kill her."  
  
Rick turned back to the fight and yanked off a rider and stole his horse. He grabbed the reins and took off after Dawn and the black figure in the dark. He was afraid that the black figure already had a good enough start to do what it was supposed to do.  
  
  
  
Dawn raced through the plains, she was already aware that there was something behind and pursuing her. She could hear a horses ragged breathing behind her. It may have been her imagination, but it felt like she could feel something cold and evil breathing down her neck, literally.  
  
Something black came up and started racing beside her. The figure on it was huge and the horse it rode on matched it's size. It stank and Dawn urged Safeara to go faster. The horse obeyed, it didn't like the stranger any more than Dawn did.  
  
The black figure reached to grab her, trying to pull her off her horse. She also saw that the other hand, holding the reins also held a wicked looking blade. Dawn struggled to free herself and was terrified to feel that the stranger was winning. She was slowly sliding off her horse and was now barely holding on. She tried to yank herself out of it's grasp, but ended up sliding off her horse and landing heavily on the ground. The wind was knocked out of her and she had trouble breathing, she also felt her right knee thBobbing  
  
Safeara stopped ahead of her and timidly started to make her way back, but stopped when it saw that the black rider was also coming back.  
  
Dawn struggled to stand up and reached for her lightsaber, ignited the purple blade.  
  
The black rider, slowly got off its own horse and advance on her, bringing its own weapon, the black blade in front of it.  
  
Dawn thought everything would be all right, 'Lightsaber can cut through anything,' she thought.  
  
She raised her lightsaber to strike at the offending blade and was stunned when it didn't cut through it.  
  
The two started throwing strikes at each other. Dawn desperately blocking shots that the figure came at her with. She was already tired and her right knee didn't help her at all, she could barely move.  
  
Safeara started to scream into at the night and Dawn hoped that someone good would hear it.  
  
  
  
Rick was racing through the plains on his stolen horse, looking for any sign of Dawn and Sauron's servant. He heard a horse's cry and turned in the direction of it, it was coming from his left and Rick urged his horse to go faster, hoping that it was where Dawn was.  
  
He made out two shapes in the distance and the unmistakable glow of a lightsaber. Dawn was there and he rapidly approached her.  
  
Rick was close when he saw that he was too late. Dawn was hobbling and she had let her guard down to try to steady herself on her feet. She was too late blocking the blade and it plunged into her stomach, in the exact same place as where Troi had been stabbed and at the exact same time.  
  
Rick raced to where the black figure was and ignited his lightsaber as the thing raised its own blade to finish Dawn off. It lost its head before it had the chance.  
  
With that done Rick jumped off his horse and ran over to where Dawn was lying on her back. He looked at her wound and saw that it was very grave, she was stabbed on the left and it went all the way through. He tore off his Bobe and started to make it into a ball to try and stop the bleeding. He also called on all his training to put her into a Jedi Healing Trance, but he knew that it wouldn't be very strong. Dawn needed a Jedi Master for the wound she had and even then a Master would have trouble with it.  
  
He glanced up as Safeara walked up beside him and gazed down at Dawn. Rick's Bobe was already drenched with blood. He needed more supplies to help her. "Safeara. I need you to scream like you did before. I need my friends to come and help her."  
  
The horse backed up away from him and started screaming at the night. Rick hoped that the right people would hear it and come quickly.  
  
  
  
The battle was done and the group had spilt up into groups to search for Dawn and Rick. They all heard the horse's screams and took off in the direction it was coming from. It was Elrond and Arwen who arrived first and grimly saw what had happened.  
  
Rick glanced up at them, "I've put her in a Trance, but I don't think it's going to do much good. I don't really have that kind of Jedi power to heal a wound like this." He moved over and made room for Elrond to see.  
  
Elrond sucked in his breath. Blood was everywhere and even he wasn't sure if he could help her. "I'll need help, trying to heal her. But I won't be able to heal her totally and even what I can do won't save her, but it'll give us time to think of what to do."  
  
He had Rick place his hands on Dawn's front part of the wound and pressed hard on it. That had Dawn moan and Elrond took that as a good sign, she still had enough strength in her to do that. Elrond placed his hands on top of Rick's and started instructing him of what to do.  
  
  
  
Sitya and her group were recklessly driving on the plains that surrounded them. Sitya saw and heard arrows whistling by her ears and she was seriously getting upset. She looked at Obi-Wan. "Can you shot a bow?"  
  
Obi-Wan was holding on for dear life, he looked at the bow and arrows that were lying between them. "Can't say that I've ever tried."  
  
Sitya sighed, she had hoped that he would know, so she could save her bullets, "Do you know how to shoot a gun?"  
  
Obi-Wan glanced down at the guns also, he knew how to shoot a blaster, but didn't know the first thing about how to shoot a gun. "No…"  
  
Sitya sighed and started to shift in her seat, letting go of the wheel.  
  
"What are you doing!?"  
  
Sitya glanced over at him, "We're going to have to switch spots, you drive and I shoot."  
  
"But I don't know how to drive. Don't you remember what happened to your truck?!"  
  
Sitya rolled her eyes, "I can't do two things at once, and those bad guys are getting really close." She lifted herself out of the seat, "Just don't run into a tree or something. When I get up, you're going to come underneath me and take the wheel. I'm going to start shooting presents at our friends back there."  
  
Sitya stood up and moved over to the passenger's seat, while Obi-Wan was beneath her, frantically trying to grab onto the wheel and not crash into anything.  
  
Sitya reached down and grabbed the bow and a few arrows and stood up, her head poking through the jeep's canopy. She looked around to make sure that none of her traveling companions were surrounding her and saw that there wasn't, all of them were ahead and dealing with their own pBoblems.  
  
Sitya could not seem to get a good shot at anything and moved her leg to see if she could get over the canopy. She found a higher place where she could place her feet; it was perfect, not to high and not too low.  
  
She started shooting her arrows and soon she was out, but the numbers of their attackers were thinning. Sitya climbed back down to get a gun and some extra bullets. She glanced over at Obi-Wan and saw that he had a pained expression on his face. "What's wrong? Did you get hit?"  
  
Obi-Wan gave a slow shake of his head, "No. You stepped on me."  
  
Sitya was defensive, "I don't think I'm that heavy."  
  
Obi-Wan shook his head again. "No. You stepped on me."  
  
Sitya didn't get what he was saying.  
  
Obi-Wan saw this, "You stepped on my nuts."  
  
Sitya would have laughed if there wasn't arrows flying through the air. "Ohh… Sorry."  
  
Obi-Wan grunted and continued to dodge objects in front of them.  
  
  
  
Gandalf was in a jeep with Lara, Pippin and Merry. The obvious was that Lara was driving, since her other passengers didn't know how. All Pippin and Merry could do was look out at the battle around them and try to point out something that they thought was helpful. Gandalf kept himself busy by picking up anything with magic and throwing it at their pursuers.  
  
Pippin was looking out of his side of the jeep and was shocked to see a black figure racing along beside Sitya's and Obi-Wan's jeep. Both had not noticed this threat. Pippin started pulling on Gandalf's sleeve. "Gandalf! Gandalf!"  
  
Gandalf impatiently swatted his arm away, "Not now Pippin."  
  
"But Gandalf! There's a Ringwraith over there!"  
  
Merry looked over to where Pippin was pointing. "He's right Gandalf!"  
  
Gandalf then stopped what he was doing and looked to where Pippin was pointing. He was indeed right. "Lara slow down the jeep!"  
  
"Are you crazy!"  
  
"Sitya and Obi-Wan are in danger."  
  
  
  
Sitya held out her hand to grab onto the jeep, while Obi-Wan jerked the vehicle around. "Would you stop that!"  
  
"Sorry about the inconvenience of me driving around obstacles that you told me to miss. It's not my fault that there's stuff in front of me that I have to avoid!"  
  
Sitya turned back to what she had been doing and saw out of the corner of her eye a new figure. 'This is new.'  
  
The black figure got steadily closer and Sitya sensed a presence of evil, and became alarmed when she saw it pull out a very nasty looking blade.  
  
Sitya didn't have time to reach down and gather new bullets to deal with this threat, so she reached for her lightsaber and ignited it. She caught the first blow the thing aimed at her, but didn't have a very good advantage, with one of the jeep's bars in her way. She ducked down into the jeep in between blows and was again sitting next to Obi-Wan.  
  
"What are you doing with your lightsaber?"  
  
"Got company with a really bad looking blade." Sitya started to fight in earnest with the figure. While Obi-Wan stepped on the gas to try and speed away, the black figure kept up.  
  
Sitya was finding it difficult to fight the thing, trying to block it's blows and not hit the jeep at the same time. She also saw that Lara's jeep was coming up alongside them and was relived for the help.  
  
The figure also the new arrivals and renewed it's attack. Striking harder and faster, and Sitya was having even more difficulty keeping up. The figure faked to the right and Sitya was too tired to see what it was doing and it deftly moved it's blade to her left and cutting into her. The same time as the rest of her friends had been wounded.  
  
Sitya's vision became blurred and all she could really think about was what type of vital organs were in that side of her body and if any of them had been punctured.  
  
  
  
Troi slowly woke up in a warm bed and looked around her. It seemed that the walls were made of rock, and there was one hole in it to serve as a window. She slowly sat up and glanced around her. Her friends were on either side of her on different beds and looked like what she felt.  
  
Slowly what had happened came back to her and Troi lifted up her soft, clean shirt to examine what should be there. All she saw was a pinkish scar that was about as long and wide as her fist. Troi tried to sit up, but was stopped when the pain from her wound came. She lay back down breathless and waited for the pain to stop and her heart to slow back down. She again tried to sit up, this time more slowly and was happy that she was leaning against the pillows and looking at the world straight on, inside of looking up.  
  
Splashing Water came in and was overjoyed to see her awake. "Hi! I'll get some food for you, if you're hungry. I just came in to check how you and your friends were doing."  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
Splashing Water became excited. "You're in my city. Well, actually it's the dragon city Jugbvfhert. You were brought here after we found you and your friends."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I think you should wait until your friends wake up and then all of you can hear what happened at the same time."  
  
"I am awake." Troi heard a voice say on her right. Sitya was struggling to sit up. She glanced at Troi at gave a little wave, she then turned her attention to her stomach to see what was there.  
  
Troi then turned and saw that Dawn was waking up as well and groggily looking around her. She rubbed her stomach and inspected it as well. All she found was a pinkish scar.  
  
Splashing Water left to bring them some food and the three friends talked.  
  
"You two got the same thing as me, huh?" Sitya asked. The two nodded. "Well, I don't know about you, but I don't want to do that again."  
  
"Does anyone know where we are?" Dawn asked.  
  
Troi told them everything she knew and was just finished when the whole group walked in, everyone was there to check and make sure that the three were all right.  
  
The three girls were burning to ask questions and the group sensed that. They gathered around the girl's beds and allowed them to start.  
  
"How long have we been asleep?" Dawn asked.  
  
"This is the second day that you have been here. The dragons found us and brought you here, to have their healers work on you." Gandalf answered.  
  
Troi counted in her head, that would be the 25th back home.  
  
"What were those dark figures?" Sitya wanted to know.  
  
Elrond answered for them. "Those were some of Sauron's servants. There are more, but three of them wouldn't be bothering you anymore. All three of you were stabbed at the same time. Like all things there is strength in numbers and the damage done to you was threefold, because it happened at the same time."  
  
"So all of us got the same type of blade put into us?" Troi then asked.  
  
Aragorn nodded, "Those blades were specially made a long time ago to get rid of 'Guardians'. Normally it would have killed you on the spot, but for some reason you three didn't. It might be due to the fact that you three are true 'Guardians' and have proved yourselves. There is very little that will be able to kill you now."  
  
The three girls looked at each other, they didn't really know to take that as a blessing or a curse.  
  
Splashing Water came in with food and very large, blue dragon came in as well. Everyone started eating and talking at the same time.  
  
Sitya wanted to know when they would be leaving again. The group looked at each other. They didn't want any of the girls moving around just yet. They had just woken up and they knew that they still experienced pain when they moved.  
  
The new dragon spoke. "It is true that what you are needed to do is important. But you must also consider what you have been through. All three of you are just recovering from a mortal wound and you must rest."  
  
Sitya raised her chin. "I don't need to rest. I can still travel." Her friends nodded in agreement. Already the sitting in the bed was making them crazy.  
  
The blue dragon shook it's head. "No you must rest."  
  
Sitya became angry. "Screw resting!" she stood up, abruptly from her bed and stood before her gathered friends. Pain traveled up and down her body and she felt like she was going to faint. She felt an arm steady her and saw Obi-Wan holding on to her, so she wouldn't fall on her face. "See?" she mumbled. "Just fine."  
  
Dawn and Troi followed her example, but a little bit slower and stood before the dragon.  
  
"We're leaving, whether you like it or not." Dawn directed at the dragon.  
  
The blue dragon stared at them for a moment and then started to chuckle. "Your friends told us that you wouldn't listen. You supplies and gear are ready to leave."  
  
  
  
The three girls slowly made their way out of their room and through the hallway to the entrance where they could see sun streaming in. It was a welcome sight. It seemed that the dragon city was located high up in some cluster of mountains and the city was indeed huge. It would have to be, to hold as many dragons as it did.  
  
Dawn glanced down the steps and saw that their gear, minus their vehicles were gathered around a group of five large dragons. Dawn had a sinking feeling in her stomach. "How are we going to travel?" she asked. "And where's my horse?"  
  
Rick answered for her. "Your horse is fine. Aragorn found a home for it before he was brought here and you can have him back any time you like. As for our transportation, we're riding on those dragons down there." He pointed to the five dragons.  
  
Sitya was excited, "We're going to fly!"  
  
Rick nodded his head.  
  
"Cool!"  
  
  
  
The five dragons were divided up into sections. Two of them were strapped down with their equipment and the other three would carry the travelers. The groups divided again and climbed up on top of their designated dragons.  
  
Sitya was bouncing up and down. "This is so cool!"  
  
Obi-Wan sat behind her, "I have no idea what you find so 'cool'."  
  
Sitya turned around to face him. "You're not going to puke are you?"  
  
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and smiled.  
  
  
  
The ride was fast and loud, no one could speak to anyone, because the wind ripped the sounds right out of their mouths. The dragons continued to fly into the night as their passengers slept. Over more plains and finally mountains that was the boundary of Mordor.  
  
In the morning Troi looked down at the barren land they were now crossing and decided that it must be Mordor.  
  
The dragons set down just on the other side of the mountains and the group started to jump off and unpack their belongings from the dragon's backs.  
  
Troi stared off in the distance and made out the shape of a large mountain that had an orange glow at the top. 'That must be Mount Doom.' She thought. 'And that's where we will find Sauron.'  
  
Their things were unloaded and the dragons took off. Telling them that they would be back when someone blew on their city's horn, which they gave to Gandalf. The travelers started the journey to the heart of Mordor.  
  
  
  
Everyone hid below a rise that covered them from prying eyes. They didn't think their cover would last much longer so they had to plan fast.  
  
The three decided that they would go ahead to Mount Doom by themselves. The rest reluctantly agreed and said that they would do what they could to lure the enemies away from the mountain.  
  
The girls had been gone for an hour and the rest could just make out their tiny figures on the surface of the volcano. They silently wished them luck.  
  
  
  
The girls made quick progress up the hill. They were trying to find a cave in the volcano that would lead them to the lava chamber where they would be able to throw the stones into. Frodo had told them it was a little bit more than halfway up.  
  
Sitya looked down and thought that they should be almost at their destination. Her friends were beside her and also surveying below and above them. Sitya could just make out what she thought were the rest of her friends below and what looked to be an army that was engaging them. She hoped that they would be all right.  
  
Dawn was looking above her and thought that she saw an opening in the shadows, she pointed it out to the other two. "I think that might be it."  
  
They continued their journey up and made it to the cave. A foul odor floated out from the entrance, it smelt like sulfur and they knew that they had reached the cave entrance.  
  
  
  
Below the volcano the rest of the group was fighting a desperate battle with orcs, they kept coming at them and wouldn't stop. It was endless, every orc they cut down there was three others that took the slain ones place.  
  
  
  
The girls made their way deeper into the cave and the heat started to increase dramatically, all three were sweating by the time they reached the inside of the volcano. The made their way along a walkway and glanced down into the lava below.  
  
All three at the same time reached in their shirts and pulled out the necklace and pouch that held their stones. None of them had any desire to keep them and the ripped the necklace off of their necks and hurled them down into the lava.  
  
It was incredibly easy. Nothing should be that easy. The girls turned from the fire below and were confronted by a towering figure in front of them. It was huge, having black armor covering every part of it's body and it even had an evil looking mask, the outfit was complete with a large oversized sword held in his hand. It's cloak snapped behind it as he stalked towards the girls before him.  
  
  
  
The group below continued to fight and saw that they were losing, they were tired and bloody. The only hope was that the girls above them would be successful in their mission and the peoples of Middle-Earth would be safe.  
  
  
  
Dawn, Troi and Sitya ignited their lightsabers to meet their advancing foe, Sauron. It was a fierce battle and Sauron was winning, using his size and strength to over come the girls. They soon became tired and were battered by Sauron back to the edge of the cliff.  
  
Sitya had an idea and shouted to her friends. "Plan alpha!"  
  
That was an old trick they had made up when they where little and they were testing their abilities and strengths.  
  
Sitya took the lead and stood in front of Sauron battling him alone as her friends stood behind her, in the order of Troi and then Dawn. Sitya continued to fight, telling her muscles to keep working, watching and waiting for the right moment to enact their plan.  
  
She saw in coming. Sauron raised his sword high over his head and brought it down on Sitya's head. She ducked forward and leaned the side at the same time, the sword missing her by inches. Sauron was unbalanced and his sword in a bad position to protect himself, Sitya's back was flat and Troi started her role in the plan.  
  
Troi ran forward and rolled on Sitya's back, so that their backs were touching. She aimed for Sauron's sword hand and leaped forward to cut it off.  
  
With his arm lying beside him, Sauron howled in pain and almost fell to his knees.  
  
Dawn then exacted the same move as Troi did, across Sitya's back, but she aimed for the very vulnerable Lord's head.  
  
It was severed and the mask rolled on the ground.  
  
The girls weren't ready for the barrage that assaulted them when the Lord's head rolled. It's body became bright and light started to seep through cracks that appeared in it's amour. Sauron exploded and sent all of the girls to the edge of the walkway and to the waiting lava below.  
  
  
  
The ground began to shake and the battle on the ground stopped when all present looked up to Mount Doom and saw light spilling out of a cave in the middle and through the top of the volcano. The orcs trembled in fear and began to retreat from the travelers. They knew that their Lord was gone.  
  
The travelers also knew that Sauron was dead and started laughing and hugging those around them. They had won and Sauron was now forever gone.  
  
  
  
Troi and Dawn hanged onto the side of the walkway beside each other. Dawn was the first to get back on a horizontal surface and then reached down to help Troi up. When her friend was up she glanced around. "Where's Sitya?"  
  
They raced to the very end of the walkway and looked down. Sitya had been standing directly in front of the Dark Lord and as far as they could tell she had gotten the frontal assault when Sauron exploded.  
  
Sitya was a fair distance down, where she was hanging on to was the very last of the overhang. After that there was just air. Sitya looked up and smiled wryly, "Glad you guys came to join the party." She shifted her grip when she felt it slipping. "If you don't mind, I'd very much like to get out of this hell hole. No pun intended."  
  
Troi laid flat on her stomach and started head first to where Sitya was hanging. Dawn saw what she was doing and grabbed onto her legs. There was just enough length between the two of them to reach Sitya. Sitya grabbed onto Troi's arm for dear life.  
  
Dawn felt the extra weighed and slowly started to pull her friends up. When Troi was again on the walkway she helped Dawn pull Sitya up as well.  
  
All three sat on the walkway and tried to catch their breath. It didn't help that it was stifling hot in here and there wasn't any air, so they helped each other back up through the tunnel and the exit out of the volcano.  
  
  
  
The girls were met by their group when they were almost at the bottom. All three where sweating and smelt like sulfur, all of them just wanted to have a bath and a very long nap. They sat down heavily and just watched the group's progress towards them.  
  
"You guys did it!" Pippin yelled. He ran up to Sitya and gave her a hug. He was still moving when he plowed into her and knocked the breath out of her. 'That is happening far to often these days.' Sitya thought.  
  
Each girl was surrounded by their respective groups and went through the process of being slapped on the back and people congratulating them.  
  
"Where did that army that I saw go?" Troi asked.  
  
Jack sat down beside her and told her what had happened. "As soon as they saw all that light coming out of the volcano they took off. Did that happen when you destroyed the stones or when you defeated Sauron."  
  
"That was when Sauron exploded."  
  
Sitya had overheard their conversation, because she also wanted to know what had happened to the army. "Yeah. Along with the light he exploded and knocked us over the walkway." Sitya snorted. "The last thing he did was pass wind before he left this world."  
  
  
  
Gandalf called the dragons with their city's horn and they came to pick them up. The group didn't even bother packing their equipment again, most of it was destroyed or used up in their battle against the orcs. The five dragons made better time, because of not having any extra equipment to carry for them.  
  
It was asked that they take the group to Rivendell. The dragons obeyed and again flew through the night as the passengers slept on and off. The only ones that slept the entire time were the three 'Guradians'.  
  
Dawn had fallen asleep as soon as she climbed on her dragon and was leaning against Rick. Troi had tried to stay awake and talk to Jack about all that had happened, but she too soon fell asleep and leaned against his chest. Jack protectively wrapped his arms around her and he too fell asleep. Sitya had wanted to stay awake the whole ride, she loved flying on the dragon and didn't want to miss anything. She couldn't keep her eyes open and Obi-Wan was jolted awake when he felt her against his own chest. And was completely surprised, he dozed off again after awhile.  
  
Mace and Qui-Gon sat together and surveyed the other Jedi and the sleeping girls. Mace smiled. "I think you're going to have to worry about something other than just keeping them from killing each other."  
  
  
  
The dragons landed in Rivendell an hour after the sun had risen and were greeted by a very large number of surprised elves. Never had it been known that dragons had landed in their city. They were even more surprised when they saw the travelers climb down from their backs.  
  
The group thanked them, again all but the sleeping 'Guardians' and the dragons, peacefully took to the air again and left for their own city.  
  
The three young Jedi were gathered together and each was holding their respective girl. They didn't know what to do with them, so they sat them on the ground and tried to wake them up. Sitya was no pBoblem, she bolted awake as soon as she heard Obi-Wan say her name.  
  
"What'd you wake me up for?" she demanded.  
  
Obi-Wan gave her a grin, "I didn't exactly think that you wanted me carrying you through Rivendell and to your room where everyone could see. People might get the wrong idea."  
  
Sitya shot him a glare and stood up, punching him in the process. She looked down at her two friends and saw that they were still asleep.  
  
Rick rocked Dawn trying to get her up, "Hey wake up." He said gently.  
  
After a little encouragement and a few more words Dawn slowly woke up and looked around, "We're in Rivendell?"  
  
Rick nodded, "Yes we are. You fell asleep and didn't wake up when we landed."  
  
Dawn sat up and felt immediately dirty, she felt like she would be having a very long bath.  
  
Jack leaned over Troi and tried to wake her up gently.  
  
"No, no. That won't work. You have to yell at her." Sitya said.  
  
Jack looked at her like she was crazy. But took her advice and yelled her name. "Troi!"  
  
Troi sat up suddenly and banged her head against Jack's. "Is it supper time yet?"  
  
  
  
Everyone from Middle-Earth had waved good bye to their Earth friends and those that were leaving traveled through the Stargate and again ended up in Hogwarts. Those that lived there stayed and the others continued their journey by train to London and then the rest of the group further separated, each going their own way.  
  
It was very late in the night when the girls and the Jedi along with Mace arrived back home, all just crawled into bed and slept.  
  
  
  
It was the Jedi who woke up first and decided to try and cook breakfast for the sleeping girls. It ended up that the Jedi started a small fire and the alarm rudely awakened the sleeping girls.  
  
"What are you guys doing!?" Dawn shrieked.  
  
Rick looked up at her, "We were trying to make pancakes." He and the other Jedi were covered in flour from head to foot. They all looked like ghosts.  
  
The three girls burst into laughter and instructed them to go out the door and dust off as much of the flour as they could. When they were done that, Troi gave them a garden hose.  
  
"Use this to rinse yourselves off."  
  
The Jedi decided that it would be more fun if the girls joined in with them so they had a water fight for the better part of the morning. They only stopped when all of them were freezing and were tired to run.  
  
They all went to lay down in the sun to dry off and Obi-Wan sat next to Sitya. "So are excited about tomorrow?"  
  
Sitya was confused, "What's tomorrow?"  
  
Troi leaped to her feet, "Tomorrow's grad and none of us have a dress yet! We have to go shopping now!"  
  
  
  
The girls and the Jedi went into the house and frantically changed into clean and dry clothes. All of them gathered into the minivan and Dawn sped to West Edmonton Mall. It was 2:00 when they got there and Troi started freaking that that only gave them four hours to find a dress and for the Jedi to find tuxes.  
  
They dashed to different stores and the Jedi were fitted for tuxes before the girls found anything that they liked.  
  
Sitya and Dawn had found their dresses when it was 5:00. Sitya's was a cream colored strapless gown with little silvery flowers embroided on it and Dawn's was purple with little white strips through it as well. Troi was still trying on dresses when it was 5:45. She had 15 minutes to find her dress before the mall closed.  
  
"I'm never going to find a dress!" Troi moaned.  
  
Sitya looked around and picked out a wine colored full gown with criss-crossed lacing at the back. "What about his one?" she asked.  
  
Troi looked at her and smiled, "That's prefect!" she ran into the change room and tried it on. She loved it.  
  
  
  
The party was in full swing when the girls and their escorts arrived. Everyone of them had been delayed because Troi couldn't be satisfied with the way her makeup looked. Finally Sitya had got upset enough to threaten her with a gun to get in the car, so they could get to their grad.  
  
The girls walked around and found their table, which was near the stage and the dance floor. Troi felt obligated to walk around and talk to her classmates, she dragged Sitya and Dawn along with her, leaving the Jedi sitting at the table by themselves.  
  
Qui-Gon leaned over and spoke to Mace, "Are you sure they're all going to be here?"  
  
Mace gave a grin, "They should be on their way here right now. They'll miss the dinner, but they will be here when the party starts."  
  
Obi-Wan looked excited. "Sitya's going to freak when she sees what I have planned for her! She'll freak even more when she sees who's here."  
  
Jack nodded in agreement, "I think all three of them are going to be surprised when they see that everyone has come."  
  
  
  
The dinner was fantastic, the girls had come to sit down and eat, but Troi made them get up again to go visit. Sitya had sneaked away and hid in the bathroom, not the most original hiding place she had ever been in, but still.  
  
Other girls came into the bathroom and busied themselves in front of the mirrors, putting makeup and such on. Sitya didn't have any makeup , but decided to at least pretend that she was in here for some reason other than hiding.  
  
She saw Dawn come in and walk over to her. "Troi let you out of her grasp." She laughed.  
  
Dawn shook her head, "No. It was Obi-Wan who came and got me and asked me to come in here and get you."  
  
Sitya slowly lost her smile, "What does he want?" she asked slowly.  
  
Dawn shrugged, "I don't know he wouldn't tell me."  
  
"I'm not going." Sitya stated, crossing her arms.  
  
Dawn nodded, "Alright."  
  
She walked out of the bathroom and a few minutes later, Sitya was floored when Obi-Wan walked into the room.  
  
The girls in the bathroom stopped what they were doing and looked at Obi-Wan, who gave them a big smile. "'Scuse me ladies, but I have to talk to Sitya over there." He pointed at her on the far side of the room.  
  
The girls immediately started to file out of the bathroom, some laughing and giggling over what was happening.  
  
"What are you doing!" Sitya yelled at him.  
  
Obi-Wan walked further into the bathroom and stood in front of her. "You wouldn't come out to see me so I figured I should come in here instead." He hoisted himself up on the counter and looked at her. "It's time for you last little thing that we agreed to do."  
  
"I am not going to lip synch in front them. I know those people out there!"  
  
Obi-Wan flashed her another grin at her and held out a plastic bag. "I want you to put this on too. I'll wait for you right here."  
  
Sitya gave him and evil glare, grabbed the bag and stalked to the nearest bathroom stall, slamming the door behind her.  
  
As she changed Obi-Wan tried to make conversation, "So how embarrassing is this situation for you? I mean is it more than that little bath episode or the alley kiss?"  
  
Sitya was zipping out of her dress and she was absolutely furious with him. "We did not kiss!"  
  
"Yes we did. I think in my sex ed, course at the Temple we did exactly what we had to do to kiss."  
  
"We were going to get ambushed by a bunch of thugs looking for us and you did the first thing that you thought would make them overlook us."  
  
"I did the only thing that would get the guys to overlook us? I thought that kissing is supposed to be a two way thing."  
  
Eileen and Sheena walked into the bathroom and that moment and saw Obi-Wan sitting on the counter talking. She gave a little wave and put her lips to her mouth, she wanted to hear what else was to be said.  
  
Obi-Wan gave her a wink and continued. "So which was more embarrassing? The bath, the alley kiss or this? I do think that were some other stuff that happened that was embarrassing, but I think those three are in competition for the award."  
  
"I think the funniest thing that happened," Sitya shouted over the stall, "was when I played ballroom dancing on your balls."  
  
Eileen and Sheena put their hands over their mouths and desperately tried not to laugh.  
  
Obi-Wan lost a little bit of his grin and glanced over at the two girls, that wasn't supposed to come out. "You haven't answered my question." He retorted back.  
  
Sitya gave a sigh of frustration, "Yes, you walking in here was embarrassing! You do understand that I live in the same town as them? Yes, that bath thing was embarrassing, but it was an accident. At least it better be!" Sitya threatened. "But that alley thing is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me and now you're pBobably going to blurt it out to ever single person I know!" Sitya jerked open the bathrooms stall and glared at him. She looked over when she heard Eileen and Sheena laughing their heads off. She shot a look back at Obi-Wan who was laughing too and almost falling off the counter. "I seriously dislike you!"  
  
  
  
Dawn had decided to leave the bathroom when she saw Obi-Wan walk in. She headed back to her table, but was stopped from sitting down when Rick asked her if she wanted to dance.  
  
Dawn sighed, "Alright."  
  
They made their way to the dance floor just as a slow song started. Rick and Dawn danced for awhile in silence and the Rick spoke first, "You know I had a really good time, spending time with you, here and on Middle- Earth."  
  
Dawn shrugged, "Glad you liked it."  
  
Rick looked down at her and continued, "You know there is something that I want to know."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What would you have done if I really did kiss you?"  
  
"So you were trying to kiss me!"  
  
"Not so loud! And yes I was. So what would you have done? Would you have let me or would you have booted me out the door?"  
  
Dawn shrugged, "It would have depended on if you were a good kisser or not and if you stuffed you tongue in my throat."  
  
Rick laughed, "Trust me. I wouldn't have done that! I would have been afraid you would bite it off."  
  
Dawn gave him a disgusted look.  
  
"Would it be alright if I kissed you now?"  
  
"Here?"  
  
"Yeah, why not? No one's looking."  
  
Dawn looked around her and saw that no one was indeed. Everyone was so engrossed in their own little worlds and conversations. "Alright. But only a quick one and nothing gross."  
  
Rick nodded and then kissed her on the lips. He didn't do a quick one, and it lasted for a couple of seconds. They broke it off and Dawn felt funny, she also heard people laughing and clapping around them. All of who were looking at them.  
  
"What is going on?" she look up at the projection screen in the center of the large room and saw herself and Rick on it. "Oh no."  
  
Rick started laughing too, 'Come on. It's not that bad."  
  
Dawn started laughing too. And they both made their way back to the table, where the two Jedi Masters were laughing as well. She sat down beside Troi who gave her a hug.  
  
"That was priceless!"  
  
Dawn rolled her eyes, "Glad you liked it so much." She said wryly.  
  
Troi laughed harder. "You bet I did! I help set that up!"  
  
Dawn gave her a shocked look and Rick was doing the same.  
  
"I helped." Jack put in.  
  
Rick sputtered, "I can't believe you did that!"  
  
Qui-Gon and Mace got up and Troi and Dawn looked up to see what they were looking at.  
  
They stared, at first not believing their eyes, but they soon overcame that and raced to greet their new friends just coming in the doorway into the ballroom.  
  
"What are you guys doing here!" Troi Dawn happily asked.  
  
Sam walked up to her and gave her a little hug, he was dressed in a little tux and looked extremely cute. In fact all the people from Middle- Earth were dressed in tuxes or dresses that came from this world and Dawn would have never known that they came from a different planet, if she didn't know better.  
  
"Qui-Gon and the other Jedi told us about this grad you were having and invited us here." Sam explained.  
  
The other Jedi came over and everyone started to give each other hugs of welcome and then started their way back to the table. They brought in extra chairs so everyone could sit down and enjoy themselves.  
  
"Where's Sitya and Obi-Wan?" Lara asked.  
  
"Obi-Wan's got Sitya cornered somewhere and he's going to make her dance and lip synch in front of everyone." Troi said helpfully.  
  
"What's she going to be singing?"  
  
Dawn pointed the stage and everyone turned to see Obi-Wan step up to the microphone. "Hi!" he said. "I hope everyone is having a great time." He was answered by hoots and whistles. "There's going to be something that's a little different right now. There's still going to be music, but there's going to be a performer up here. Sitya's going to be dancing to U2's 'Elevation'."  
  
The crowd politely clapped and Sitya slowly walked up the steps and onto the stage. Dawn and Troi laughed when they saw her flash a glare at Obi-Wan when they passed each other.  
  
Sitya stood in the middle of the stage and waited for the music to begin. She was dressed all in tight, fitting black. Wearing short shorts and a girl T-shirt, the outfit was complete with heavy boots and belt and leg strappings that held guns and those that knew her, knew that they wouldn't be real. She would have already used them on Obi-Wan.  
  
The music started and Sitya started dancing on stage. Soon getting the audience with her and after her initial nervousness was over she started to enjoy herself.  
  
  
  
High, higher than the sun  
  
You shoot me from a gun  
  
I need you to elevate me here  
  
At corner of your lips  
  
As the orbit of your hips  
  
Eclipse  
  
You elevate my soul  
  
I've got no self control  
  
Been living like a mole now  
  
Going down, excavation  
  
I and I in the sky  
  
You make me feel like I can fly  
  
So high  
  
Elevation  
  
A star lit up like a cigar  
  
Strung out like a guitar  
  
Maybe you can educate my mind  
  
Explain all these controls  
  
Can't sing but I've got soul  
  
The goal is elevation  
  
A mole digging in a hole  
  
Digging up my soul now  
  
Going down, excavation  
  
I and I in the sky  
  
You make me feel like I can fly  
  
So high  
  
Elevation  
  
Love lift me up out of these blues  
  
Won't you tell me something true  
  
I believe in you  
  
A mole digging in a hole  
  
Digging up my soul now  
  
Going down, excavation  
  
Higher now in the sky  
  
You make me feel like I can fly  
  
So high  
  
Elevation  
  
Elevation  
  
Elevation  
  
Elevation  
  
Sitya bounded down the steps of the stage when she was finished and made her way to the table. She stopped when she saw everyone gathered there. "What are you guys doing here?"  
  
Harry and Ron walked over and gave her a hug, "Didn't want to miss the party!" Rick told her.  
  
Sitya laughed and sat down beside all her friends and just talked.  
  
  
  
Epilogue  
  
After the grad party they had all gone to the girls mansion and had a blast. Retelling their stories of what happened on their journey and learned a few more interesting facts that they didn't know what happened. Including Obi-Wan's and Sitya's kiss in the street. Sitya was ecstatic when she learned that the same thing had happened to Dawn and Rick, once in Middle-Earth and how they had been caught on screen at grad.  
  
Troi had decided that she was going to the Jedi Temple and train to become a Jedi. She had trouble telling her friends, but figured sooner would be better than later. She took them aside and told them at the mansion after grad.  
  
"I'm going to be going with Jack to the Jedi Temple. He and Master Qui-Gon think I would make a really good Healer."  
  
Sitya was hurt, "Why didn't you tell us before now?"  
  
Troi shrugged, "I don't know. Do you know how hard it was just to bring you guys aside and tell you now?"  
  
Sitya nodded her head and gave her friend a hug, "Best of luck to you."  
  
When Sitya drew back, Dawn also gave her a hug, "I'll miss you. There's also something that I want to tell you guys." She paused as her friends looked at her. "I've always wanted to write stories and this last journey, would pBobably make the top ten lists." All three laughed at that. "Elrond has already offered me a place to stay in Rivendell to write my stories. And I think I'm going to take him up on that offer. It's quiet and I've always wanted to stay someplace that felt medievally."  
  
Sitya looked at her and then grinned, "I don't think any of your stories are going to be stories, they'll pBobably turn out to be a flippin' novel and it'll take you a whole year to write them." She gave her other friend a hug. "You have to let me read it sometime."  
  
Dawn nodded her head and drew back from Sitya and gave Troi a hug as well. "You two have to come and visit me while I'm there too."  
  
Troi told them that they would have to visit her as well. "Besides. You could always say that you're brushing up on you Jedi skills."  
  
Troi and Dawn turned to head back to the party that was happening in their house, but Sitya stopped them. "I want to tell you guys something too. I've been talking to Eric and he's helped me a lot with this. I've taken advanced tests and although it's unusual, in fact it's never happened." Sitya snorted. "I've passed my MCAT and all other tests that allow you to become a doctor. I'm now certified."  
  
"So that's why you've always been up in your room reading those medicine books." Troi pointed out.  
  
"That's right. And Eric's also helped me a step further. I've done some forensic tests and such to be a pathologist and passed them with 'flying colors' and Eric's set up something down in Richmond where I can train to be one. I'll be studying under Dr. Kay Scarpetta and Eric says she's really good, I've read about her and she seems to know what's she's doing."  
  
Her friends were excited for her as well and they all gave each other hugs again and turned back to the party and their new friends.  
  
Before the night was out the girls had the idea of having a group photo taken. In the morning they had it processed and everyone received a copy.  
  
  
  
The group was again gathered at Hogwarts in the chamber that held the Stargate, friends were giving their last good-byes and discreetly wiping away tears. Troi was helping Jack, Qui-Gon and Mac Windu with the Jedi's luggage along with her own.  
  
"Do you have everything?" Jack asked.  
  
Troi gave a little laugh, "Well if I don't it's too late now."  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
Troi gave a weak nod, "It's just going to take awhile to get used to this idea of moving away from home that's all." She paused. "Do you think I'll see Dawn and Sitya again?"  
  
Jack nodded, "Sure, they're always welcome to come see when they want. We could just say that they're brushing up on Jedi skills. Are you sure you still want to come with me to the Temple? It's not to late to turn back."  
  
Troi lifted her chin and looked directly at him, "Yes. I want to be a Jedi."  
  
Dawn was standing with the people from Middle-Earth and was also checking her pack. She was surprised and delighted to see that Rick was coming over to her. "Are you all set?"  
  
"As ready as I'm ever going to be."  
  
Rick reached out and gave her a hug.  
  
"You know," Dawn started, "That kiss wasn't half-bad."  
  
"Only half-bad?" Rick teased.  
  
"Can't base everything on one kiss. We'll have to go out some time to find that out. Look me up when you're Rivendell."  
  
"Only if you'll look for me at the Jedi Temple.  
  
Sitya stood with her own bags, to the side of the people gathered. She had brought them with her since she didn't want to go back in the now empty house. It was already up for sale and had at least a dozen bidders on it already. She was going back to the States with Martin Riggs, they would separate in New York City, Riggs continuing on to LA and Sitya would head down to Richmond, where a large empty apartment was waiting for her. And her new career of being a forensic pathologist.  
  
Obi-Wan came up behind and tapped her on the shoulder, "Have fun looking at dead people." He joked.  
  
Sitya gave him a smile, "As long as you be a good little Jedi and write."  
  
"I can to that?"  
  
Sitya nodded, "Just give it to Master Windu and he'll send it through the Stargate, it'll get here and then Hogwarts will send it to me."  
  
Obi-Wan looked happy. "You'll do the same right?"  
  
"Sure." She gave him a hug. "You were right. I did like that little kiss and it was the embarrassing and best moment in my short little life."  
  
Obi-Wan let go of her and stepped away, giving a little formal bow to her. "Glad to be of service. What to do it again?"  
  
"Here?"  
  
"Why not no one's looking."  
  
Sitya slowly nodded her head and let him kiss her. It was thrilling and Sitya didn't want it to stop. When Obi-Wan tried to step back from her, Sitya put a hand behind his head and held him for a moment longer. Finally they let go and Sitya looked around at the shocked people gathered around them. "What?"  
  
"I'm glad I had a video camera or else I wouldn't believe that happened!" Troi shrieked. She was standing beside the other Jedi and held a video camera with the record light on.  
  
Sitya just laughed and then bravely gave Obi-Wan a hug.  
  
  
  
Troi and Sitya stood away from the Stargate and watched as Dawn stood before the moving surface. They had said their good-byes the night before and didn't want to go into that horrible emotional mess again. Dawn just turned and waved at her childhood friends, who waved back and disappeared into the Stargate. It shut off, leaving the structure looking insignificant.  
  
Troi moved over to where the Jedi were gathered and waited as Professor Dumbledore set in the coordinates for Coruscant, the planet that held the Jedi Temple. Troi turned to wave too and Sitya again returned it, feeling incredibly sad, but happy for her friends.  
  
Troi disappeared first with Jack. And before Obi-Wan disappeared he turned and blew her a kiss. She felt obligated to return it and then they were all gone.  
  
  
  
The people who were staying on Earth were riding on the train, on their way back to London. Sitya sat alone in her own compartment and gazed down at the photograph that had everyone in it. The door to her compartment opened and she saw Martin Riggs and Lara Croft walk in.  
  
Martin sat beside her and Lara across.  
  
"You know Sitya, I would love to have you visit me if you're in London. And I would love it if you came tomb raiding with me as well."  
  
Sitya glanced up at her, "I would love to stay with you, I don't have to be in Richmond for about two weeks. If you don't mind Riggs, I mean I know that I said I would fly back with you."  
  
Riggs shrugged his shoulders and stretched his legs. "All planned out. I don't have to be back for another two weeks either and Ms. Croft has already offered a place for me to stay."  
  
"That's great. I think I could use a little bit of vacation time."  
  
"Never heard that my house could be thought of as vacation time. There's usually always bullets flying around in my training room or on the obstacle course."  
  
"That is a vacation." Sitya put in. She glanced back down at the grad photograph and looked at her friends. She hoped that they were safe and happy.  
  
Riggs put an arm around her and gave her a quick squeeze. "Don't worry Basts. You'll see them again."  
  
Sitya quickly wiped away a tear and looked at Riggs. "You're right. I WILL see them again."  
  
The End 


End file.
